A STUNNING performance from Irish horses and riders saw Ireland fill all three places on the podium in the five-year-old final at the 2023 FEI/WBFSH World Breeding Jumping Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken, Belgium, on Sunday.

Mikey Pender led the Irish clean sweep in the five-year-old final on board HHS Ocala (Urano De Cartigny x Wandor van de Mispelaere), owned and bred by Bravo Hughes Ltd, jumping a brilliant clear jump-off round in a time of 37.22 seconds to take gold.

Rising star in the Irish show jumping rankings, 19-year-old Niamh McEvoy, a member of the Irish team that won team gold at the Young Rider European Championships earlier in the summer, piloted Ronan Rothwell’s home-bred stallion Boleybawn Alvaro (Dominator x Crown Z) to the silver medal in a time of 37.72 seconds, just half a second behind the winner.

The bronze medal went to long standing stalwart of Irish teams competing in Lanaken, and the man who claimed gold in this class in 2022, Ger O’Neill on the winner of the 2023 Irish Breeders’ Classic, Ballyshan B F Super Hero (Celtic Hero B Z x Lux Z), bred by Gary Doherty and owned by Martin Egan.

First title

Course designer Bernard Mathy and his team set a challenging course consisting of 13 obstacles with 16 jumping efforts at a maximum height of 1.30m.

A massive 235 horses and riders from around the globe started in the two qualifiers, with 12 Irish combinations among the 39 making it through to the final. The final included just 11 clear rounds, and six of those were from Irish pairings who made it into the thrilling second round jump-off.

Pender, who celebrates his 24th birthday this week, and HHS Ocala were the fourth to jump and their finishing time of 37.22 seconds proved impossible to beat. This was Pender’s first world title at the competition after having won silver twice and bronze three times previously.

“In the past I was very close to it a few times, but I was always just not fast enough,” he said.

“I’m very happy that everything came together today. I would also like to thank my entire team who helped make me to make this possible. "HHS Ocala is a very careful and competitive horse and I think he is really a horse for the future.”

Niamh McEvoy and Boleybawn Alvaro in action \ Hippo Foto Media

Irish podium

McEvoy’s ride Boleybawn Alvaro comes from the same dam as the Grand Prix mare Boleybawn Aasha (Dignified van ’t Zorgvliet). They entered the ring shortly after Pender but fell half a second short with a finishing time of 37.72 seconds.

O’Neill and Ballyshan B F Super Hero started their jump-off excellently, but lost some time in the turn from fence two to fence three. They eventually managed to stop the clock in 39.21 seconds securing a podium place for the second year in-a-row.

The Belgian rider Walter Lelie with the Zangersheide gelding Keep The Music Z (Kannan x Emerald van ‘t Ruytershof, bred by Walter Lelie) and the Portuguese rider Bernardo Ladeira with the KWPN mare Noblesse (Falaise de Muze x Corland VDL, bred by M Hageman) completed the top five.

Carlow’s Jason Foley finished in eighth place overall with SVS Symphony (ISH, Comme Il Faut 5 x Air Jordan) who was bred by Brian Hutchinson, while Kilkenny’s Emma O’Dwyer finished tenth with BP Millionaire (Holst), owned by Equine Evolve and Fergus Lawlor.

Foley was also 11th with Castlefield Dancer (Presley Boy x Cento), owned by Castlefield Breeding Farm and bred by CDM GmBH, after winning the first qualifer with this horse.

Breeders praised

Irish Horse Board Director General Alison Corbally commented: “Congratulations to gold medal winning rider Mikey Pender - twice so close in silver at these championships, so it was lovely to see him win today with the home-bred HHS Ocala.

"Many congratulations to Marion Hughes and Miguel Bravo who bred HHS Ocala and to Maria Vozone who did such a wonderful job producing HHS Ocala back at home in Ireland when Mikey was away on International duty.

“Congratulations also to Ronan Rothwell from Boleybawn Sport Horses. Ronan is no stranger to breeding success and bred the runner-up Boleybawn Alvaro (ISH) who was brilliantly ridden by Niamh McEvoy.

“It was also a special result for Donegal’s Gary Doherty, breeder of Ballyshan B F Super Hero (ISH), Gary has bred many good horses but this is an extra special one who took third place with Ger O’Neill who added to his incredible list of podium finishes at these championships. To fill all three places on the podium is a phenomenal achievement for Ireland and congratulations to all the Irish breeders, owners and riders.”

Full breeding analysis and comments on pages 96-97.