Laura Kraut wins unusual Dublin grand prix: ‘I was sick to my stomach watching’

Laura Kraut claimed victory in a highly unusual Rolex grand prix at the RDS Dublin Horse Show today (10 August) when she won with the only clear round in the class.

“Dublin is one of those that’s on your bucket list of classes to win – I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to win this today,” said the 59-year-old US rider, whose last five-star grand prix win was over two years ago.

Laura and Cherry Knoll Farm Inc’s Bisquetta were the penultimate combination to tackle Alan Wade’s track. When they entered the arena, 11 pairs had finished the course with four faults and it looked as though they would have to jump off to decide the honours.

But Laura showed all her class and experience when she piloted the 11-year-old mare round with both determination and precision to record the only fault-free performance of the class and ultimately take the top spot. It was all over when final pair Trevor Breen and Highland President hit the oxer into the Rolex treble at fence 4a and then retired further round.

“I expected a good class, but didn’t think I’d get a great class. You don’t expect one clear to win it and I didn’t aim for that,” said course-designer Alan Wade.

“I thought there would be six or eight clears, but there were 11 on four faults and all of them would have probably gone clear if they’d been given a second chance. At this level, you’re building for the top level, you have spread, you have height, you have good material here in Dublin.

“I don’t think I’d have done anything different. The time was comfortable and you couldn’t say we were forcing them into mistakes. Maybe some will think we should have had 10 in the jump-off, but with lighter material you can get softer faults. Sometimes you get one or two go clear, or I’ve had it go all the way up to 17. It’s not an exact science and you have to be fair to the horses and the occasion.”

Alan joked that he blamed Shane Sweetnam, who went in second with James Kann Cruz and ended up third with just the orange oxer over a water tray at fence three down.

“When I did 12.2hh pony qualifiers, you needed someone to settle the rest and if he’d gone clear, we’d have had eight or nine in the jump-off!”

Laura Kraut: ‘Bisquetta is terrified of other horses’ tails’

Laura said: “Thanks to Alan for building a course that suited my horse perfectly! He’s right, we were not settled – I was sick to my stomach watching each horse go.

“I had a plan from when I walked it and I stuck to it. She’s very careful, very brave. This year she has really stepped up a level so I had confidence it wasn’t going to be too much for her, but I didn’t expect she’d do it as easily as she did. She rode perfectly and I cannot tell you how good she is.”

Laura’s partner Nick Skelton has won this grand prix five times.  Asked if he put the pressure on her, Laura said: “He was great but he did say about halfway through, ‘This is the perfect class, you get in there and be the only clear, don’t worry about it.’”

Laura said Bisquetta has a lot of quirks, but doesn’t show them when you’re riding her.

“She’s terrified of other horses – mostly she’s terrified of their tails. If they swish their tails, she likes to run away! She’s actually very sweet in the stable, but she doesn’t like people or other horses and she’s becoming more and more of a princess.”

Dublin grand prix: faults well spread

There was no particular bogey fence, faults were well spread. One of the favourites, Ireland’s Seamus Hughes Kennedy on ESI Rocky, had the first and last down, others faulted at the line of the Rolex wall (fence six), six strides to the water and then seven or eight strides to a delicate Rolex upright, which was topped with a thin yellow plank.

Tom Wachman (Tabasco De Toxandria Z), the other rider besides Seamus who jumped a double clear for Ireland in Friday’s Nations Cup, was among those who faulted when he went to the plank on seven strides.

Laura said she didn’t change a great deal from what she planned when she walked the course, but she did confirm her approach to the “very technical and careful” final line, triple bar to delicate double to oxer.

“The one part of the course that worried me was the vertical at fence 11 with the rollback to the triple bar,” she said. “I didn’t want to count a number of strides there because it’s not something I like to do, but as I watched it looked like the best option was to drop in and go on eight, so you had momentum to get five strides to the double.”

On the podium

Rodrigo Pessoa finished second for Brazil on Major Tom with the fastest four-fault round. With a late draw, he pressed on after he had fence 4b down, a mistake he blamed on himself, saying he came in “a bit hot” to the treble and ran out of room.

“In the beginning I was bummed about having the fence down, but when I saw my time I was rooting for Laura to jump clear as I’d rather be second than have to jump off against 10 others,” he said.

Third-placed Shane Sweetnam said his day was “weird” as he had assumed he was out of the running after his four faults, then he got excited as the class went on.

He said: “I was perhaps a bit tight back to fence three – when I walked the course I thought whatever you do, don’t have a time-fault as I had one last year, so that was in my head and I made a mistake, but the horse jumped great. Laura jumped an immaculate round and deserved her win.”

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news from major shows throughout 2025, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

You may also be interested in: