IRELAND’s young riders shone on the world stage at the FEI WBFSH World Breeding Championship for Young Horses at Lanaken taking two golds and two silver medals at the global showcase.

Carlow’s Jason Foley and the Kannan-sired mare Rockwell RC, bred by Ronan Byrne and owned by Sean Cubbit, got the ball rollling when claiming the gold medal in the final for five-year-old horses. Kildare’s Mikey Pender and Chacco Bay, owned by Hiltrup Sporthorses GmbH and bred by Alfons Brueggehagen, were just behind and collected the silver. Eleven combinations jumped clear in the opening round to set up a thrilling jump-off, with Foley taking the title with a double clear round in 37.72 seconds, just under half a second ahead of Pender in runner-up spot.