Lynch and Kat get the cream

Tipperary maestro scores five-star double as Wachman and Coyle record four-star wins

The catalogue of major international victories continued to stack up in the past week, and though Tom Wachman and Daniel Coyle secured two four-star triumphs and Darragh Kenny and Shane Sweetnam posted some top-notch results, it was Denis Lynch that produced the headline act with two five-star wins.

Lynch struck gold on the double with Katja at the FEI Jumping World Cup Show in Helsinki, Saturday’s success a third at the highest level in a week in Scandinavia for the red-hot duo, as they had also delivered in Gothenburg the previous week.

What’s more, they almost made it four on Sunday morning, which would have been three in 48 hours, but had to settle for runner-up, which was no mean feat after their exertions. It rounded off a stunning week for the Tipperary town athlete, who also finished on the podium with Vistogrand.

Fresh from victory in a 1.50m speed competition in Sweden, Lynch and his 11-year-old mare repeated the dose on Friday, this time in a 1.45m jump-off class.

Given her predilection for going directly to sixth gear, the opposition were up against it once Katja left the rails intact in the tiebreaker. And that she did to score with aplomb courtesy of a blinding time of 26.67 seconds, more than two seconds faster than that recorded by Mans Thijssen (NED) on Nero Z, who was best of the rest on 28.81.

“The course was good and Katja felt really good,” said Lynch. “She’s very competitive and likes to go at a brisk pace. For the arena, credit to the organisers, everything fits under one roof and is fantastic, very well done.”

Lynch followed up by completing the podium in the evening’s ultra-competitive 1.50m nightcap, guiding Vistogrand to the bronze ribbon in an event won by Italian Gampiero Garofalo, with Lambrosco. In the most dramatic jump-off, just one-tenth of a second separated Garofalo from Robert Whitaker (GBR), on Equine America Gentleman VH Veldhof, with the Irish pairing only another 0.17 seconds in arrears of the Briton on 38.75.

Lynch and Katja had the taste of success now though and on Saturday morning (below), they got the better of Garafalo and Kadessa Z back in a true speed test, obliterating the opposition once again with a clear round in 55.26 over the 1.45m course to triumph by a meaty 2.36 seconds.

“As always, she’s very competitive and she likes to go good pace,” Lynch explained in the post-competition debrief. “It really suits her to go that pace and she enjoys it, so it went to plan. There are things I’m not in control of so the only things I can control (are to) ride well, make sure I ride it the way she needs to be ridden, and then after that what will be will be.”

The pair concluded an outstanding week with a silver medal on Sunday morning. The Parco Sport Horses-owned chestnut gave her very best once more in another speed class but this time, it was Jone Illi (FIN), with Caprivi 23, who were faster, getting the home supporters off their feet.

Katja would have been entitled to feel some tiredness but her clear in 57.56 was more than two and a half seconds faster than that clocked by Johannna Beckmann (GER) with Alphajet DB, but there was no catching the Finnish fliers on 56.57.

Wellington is a long way from Helsinki, and Dublin Airport, but it is a well-established second home for the Irish, quite apart from it being actual home for quite a few of our elite athletes at this juncture, but even the visiting contingent seem to prosper when it comes to the Winter Equestrian Festival.

That trend continued on Week 8 of the famed Florida carnival of show jumping, as Tom Wachman led home a 1-2-4 for the Green Jackets in the four-star WEF Challenge Cup on Wednesday night.

The 21-year-old Tipperary man was making his way to the pocket as last week’s five-star winner, Offaly native Darragh Kenny hit the front in the speed class with a rapid clear on 67.18 but that mark lasted all of two challenges, as Wachman and Obora’s Laura (below) found a bit more fat on that time to slice off, recording a faultless round in 66.24.

There were 13 more combinations that tried to better this mark but only two of those managed clears. Jacob Pope (USA) and Highway FBH vaulted the previous week’s winning five-star pairing of Shane Sweetnam and Coriaan Van Klapscheut Z to take the final podium berth, clocking 68.06, six-tenths quicker than the Cork rider and his hugely progressive 10-year-old.

Wachman, who would join Sweetnam as Ireland finished second in the Nations Cup to USA on Saturday, hailed his 11-year-old mare and also gave a nod to his coach Cian O’Connor, and the work they have done as a result of lessons learned from previous tiebreakers.

“She’s a very good mare; very competitive. It was a tough enough track, so I was delighted with the way she performed today,” Wachman said. “She’s really careful and she tries really hard. Cian and I worked her a bit a few times the last couple of weeks and we just practised turning because there have been a few speed classes where I lost a bit of time in the turns, so were just practising that, and it worked out quite well today, so I’m happy.”

The Tricolour was prominent once more as the week came to a conclusion, though it was the USA anthem that rung out after Karl Cook denied Kenny in the $200,000 JTWG Inc Grand Prix, with Sweetnam slotting in just behind in third.

The result did earn Kenny the the Niall Grimes “Cheers” Perpetual Trophy as the top money-earning Irish competitor the week, which was presented to him by Michael Stone (below).

Only five combinations qualified for the jump-off and with McLain Ward (USA) and Erynn Ballard (CAN) completing the top five, the stacked nature of the competition was truly evident.

Cook and Candy set an uncatchable time at 36.87, however, aided by a bold gallop and going on a risky eight strides to the final fence. Kenny and Colibelle Hero Z took one more but their time of 37.72 just nudged Sweetnam and Coriaan Van Klapscheut Z (above) out of the silver medal position by three-hundredths of a second.

Daniel Coyle was also in the winner’s enclosure on Friday at the World Equestrian Centre in Ocala, scooting around the renowned arena with Incredible (below) to take the 1.45m Winning Round in another high-class jump-off at the four-star show. Kenny, making the quick transfer from Wellington, was third with Mendoza, with American Laura Kraut in second on Una Mariposa.

PHOTO CREDITS

Denis Lynch: HIHS/Heidi Lammi

Tom Wachman, Darragh Kenny, Shane Sweetnam: Wellington International/Sportfot

Daniel Coyle: Stock photo by Sportfot

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