Brave Ireland just miss out in Euros
Green Jackets fourth as Hughes Kennedy, Kenny now target individual honours
The Underwriting Exchange Irish Show Jumping finished just outside the medals in fourth of eighteen nations, as the team competition of the Longines FEI European Championships came to a conclusion in A Coruna today.
Clear rounds from senior championship debutant Seamus Hughes Kennedy and Darragh Kenny helped Michael Blake’s outfit finish on a total of 12.39 faults, an agonising 4.2 faults off Germany and bronze.
Hughes Kennedy and the Irish Sport Horse ESI Rocky, bred by his uncles Niall and Andrew Hughes at Ennisnag Stud and owned by his mother Clare, have yet to knock a pole in three rounds and go into Sunday’ individual final in the mix for glory, lying in seventh place on 2.16.
Kenny and Carol Sollak’s Eddy Blue have been foot perfect in the two Nations Cup rounds and had had just one error in the speed and handiness round that opened the Championships on Wednesday, leaving them in 13th on just 3.91 faults.
That opening class was won by Daniel Coyle and Legacy, before the Derry athlete withdrew his 15-year-old mare from the individual competition the following morning.
Gold in the team class went to Belgium, who began the day in third. Gilles Thomas sealed the deal with a raised fist before his horse, Ermitage Kalone had touched the ground after clearing the last.
The finished on 5.61 faults, with overnight leaders Great Britain taking silver, on 7.96.
In the end, the Green Jackets needed more mistakes from the leading three nations, having jumped from seventh to fourth after the first of the two Nations Cup rounds yesterday.
The margins are tiny at this rarefied level but there were positives everywhere, with Denis Lynch and Kenny fulfilling their end of the bargain as the wise heads of the team with four clear rounds between them, while 22-year-old whizz kid Hughes Kennedy flourished in his first major championships, as did his ten-year-old horse.
Meanwhile, Bertram Allen, a member of the last Irish team to win gold at the Europeans along with Lynch in Gothenburg in 2017 when he was only 22, clearly has a talented performer on his hands in the shape of Ballywalter Stables’ Qonquest de Rigo.
Just nine, the gelding only had one fence down in each of three rounds and is sure to benefit from the experience.
Lynch and Vistogrand, the 12-year-old he owns under the Tipperary’s Finest stallion banner, justified their 11th hour elevation to the team with two clears in the opening rounds.
The Tipperary pilot, a selector of the underage squads that took the European Youth Championships by storm last week, was so close to adding a third, but a slight rub at the middle part of the gold-colour triple combination toppled the top plank and left him with four faults and a personally tally of 6.32, which dropped him to 24th individually.
That heaped the pressure on Hughes Kennedy, who like Lynch had been flawless to this juncture despite being at the very opposite end of the scale in terms of experience.
The scion of an esteemed Irish equestrian family has been pinpointed as a star of the future for some time but has been making waves in Nations Cups and Grands Prix in recent months, jumping a double clear as Ireland won in La Baule.
The Kilkenny native stamped himself firmly as an athlete capable of campaigning at the very highest level this week, making light of the enormity of today’s round with the horse he has produced since Rocky was three. It was a stunning effort by horse and rider.
Qonquest illustrated all his scope under Allen but unfortunately had the same obstacle as Vistogrand down. He recovered well under the expert guidance of his Wexford navigator to limit the damage.
A clear was needed from Kenny and Eddy Blue to have any chance of making the podium and the Offaly Olympian duly obliged with his 13-year-old partner never even looking like touching a rail.
That cemented fourth and Blake hailed the efforts of his riders and their support staff.
“You would love to win a medal and that’s what we came here for but I am so proud of the riders for the efforts they put in and the rounds they jumped,” said Blake.
“They all did a really good job. Obviously, what Seamus has done and the whole story of how his uncles bred the horse, his mother owns it and he has produced it while he is only a young man himself is incredible.
“You always knew he had to talent but I just wanted to introduce him gradually but there comes a time when you have to give them their head. When they’re ready they’re ready! Huge credit must go to Ger O’Neill, who took him under his wing and he has really benefited from that.
“But all four riders did a good job and I do think Bertram’s horse will come on a lot for the experience. Major championships are very hard for nine-year-olds. He will have learned a lot from that.
“We have the individual now on Sunday and both Seamus and Darragh have a great chance. Unlike the team, things can change very quickly in the individual so we will be giving them all the support we can.
“Apart from the riders, I want to thank the owners, the grooms, the vets and all the support staff. It wouldn’t happen without them and while they might not get the profile and the headlines, their efforts are truly appreciated.
“And I want to thank Horse Sport Ireland too, who give us everything we need and continue to be a great support as we compete at the highest level around the world.”
ESI ROCKY (ISH) – 2015 gelding by Stakkato Gold (HANN) out of Clonaslea (BWP) by For Pleasure (HANN). Breeder: Ennisnag Stud, Co Kilkenny. Owner: Clare Hughes. Rider: Seamus Hughes Kennedy (IRL).
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