OFFALY’S Darragh Kenny was on a roll at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, at the end of last week, winning two FEI classes within 24 hours.

Irish Olympian Kenny won last Friday’s $32,000 Dodd Technologies CSI3* 1.45m Speed class with Serendepety (Emely x Escudo l), from a field of 56 riders who started over the course set by USA’s Nick Granat, 24 of whom jumped clear.

Kenny and the nine-year-old Hanoverian mare, owned by Oakland Ventures, finished in a time of 54.34 seconds, which was good enough to win the class.

“These 1.45m speed classes [at WEF] are incredibly competitive and fast,” said Kenny following his win. “With such a large field of high talent, it’s a bit of a luck of the draw of who gets the prize that day. That being said, I knew I could count on this mare to be quick and careful, so I followed the planned track and it ended up being enough.”

Serendepety is proving herself to be a valuable part of Kenny’s string.

“We bought her when she was five, then trained her until she was seven,” said Kenny, who now owns the mare in partnership with German Olympic champion Ludger Beerbaum. “The idea for her is to continue working towards the highest level and, so far, it looks promising.”

Kenny rode Serendepety at 1.45m level last year and made her debut in CSI3* competition last week. “She won a 1.45m Grand Prix as an eight-year-old, but this class was her first 1.45m of the year. So far, we’re on the right track,” Kenny concluded.

On Thursday, Kenny had made a winning start when taking victory in the $32,000 Adequan CSI3* WEF Challenge Cup Round 1, when he was best of the field of 72 horses, stopping the clock in 36.16 seconds with Irwin, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion (Kannan x Paladin des IFS) owned by HKC Collection LLC.

USA’s Charlotte Jacobs rode Rincoola Milsean (ISH) to take the runner-up spot. This 11-year-old gelding by Aldatus Z (OLD) out of Rincoola Abu (ISH)[TIH] by Cruising (ISH)[TIH] was bred in Co Longford by Harold McGahern. They finished just ahead of Cian O’Connor in third with Fancy De Kergane. Ireland’s Philip McGuane rode Orphea HQ into eighth place.

Cian O'Connor was third with Fancy de Kergane in the Adequan CSI3* WEF Challenge Cup Round 1 at Wellington International \ Sportfot

Kenny and Serendepety had earlier placed sixth of 45 starters in Thursday’s $6000 FEI 3* Bainbridge 1.40m class, while Jenny Rankin placed ninth with Ibiza in the same class.

In Friday’s $6,000 Bainbridge Companies 1.40m Open Jumper class, Ireland’s Francis Derwin and Exase St Hermelle took fourth place, with Darragh Kenny riding Amsterdam 27 into ninth place.

Jenny Rankin and Pia van de Nieuwburghoeve won the $2,500 1.35m Open Jumper class from a start list of 61, while Conor O’Regan and Sabine DR won the Six-Year-Old Young Jumper class.

Friday also saw Daniel Kerins on Tic-Tac and Senan Hayes on Tito finishing joint-first in the Five-Year-Old Young Jumper class.

Saturday saw McGuane and Orphea HQ take fifth place for Ireland in the $140,000 FEI 3* Southern Arches Grand Prix, which was won by Great Britain’s Ben Maher riding Enjeu De Grisien.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Shane Sweetnam rode Irandole Du Flot to take sixth place in the $32,000 FEI 3* Hermes 1.50m Classic.

The second week of the Winter Equestrian Festival is also shaping up well for the Irish with Paul O’Shea and Hellcat winning $32,000 Dodd Technologies CSI3* 1.45m on Thursday.

Speed-class superstars McLain Ward (USA) and Catoki put the pressure on early in the game after taking the lead with a blazing time of 68.48 seconds from fifth draw. The pair looked to have the class in the bag until O’Shea entered aboard Team Eye Candy’s 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare (Cassander van het Bremhof x Conan) as the fifth from the bottom of the order. Utilizing the mare’s natural knack for speed and her love of the grass surface, O’Shea took over top call clocking in a time of 68.18 seconds.