It’s taken a few days to recover from the thrill of this year’s FEI WBFSH World Breeding Jumping Championships for Young Horses at the world famous Zangersheide Stud in Lanaken, Belgium. Ireland came home with a glorious two of the three World Championship titles, maintaining their dominance from last year.
It’s taken a few days to recover from the thrill of this year’s FEI WBFSH World Breeding Jumping Championships for Young Horses at the world famous Zangersheide Stud in Lanaken, Belgium.
Ireland came home with a glorious two of the three World Championship titles, maintaining their dominance from last year.
While no Irish-bred horses made it into the five-year-old final, Ireland were represented by four talented riders in Jason Foley, Sophie Richards, Michael Duffy and Niamh McEvoy.
McEvoy and the stunning Orange De Baugy, owned by GBBS International Ltd, flew the course in high-stakes unison to see off 19 competitors and it was a sporting sight to behold.
The seven-year-old final in which Mikey Pender and the Hughes Horse Stud-bred HHS Mercedes gave a masterclass on how a brave horse and rider combination can dash the hopes of any competition.
Out of only the seven combinations to qualify for the final, Michael Duffy and Ballypatrick-bred BP Royalty clinched bronze for Irelandtoo. McEvoy, Pender and Duffy offered up jaw-dropping performances that had international hearts pounding and the Irish in the crowd whooping and hollering.
Ireland truly flexed its international equestrian muscle this week, Lanaken aside, there was an Irish 1-2 as Co Cork’s Shane Sweetnam and the Patrick Connolly-bred superstar James Kann Cruz swept to victory in Sunday’s 5* €340,000 American Gold Cup. Co Down’s Conor Swail took runner-up with Casturano.
Just because a stallion is expensive, doesn’t mean your horse will be any good. So, what’s the recipe for success?
Lanaken isn’t just a great event for sport and breeding, but also for conversations. My business does not depend on the foals I produce or sell, I’m grateful to be able to hold onto a more romantic approach but it is always fascinating to see many of the best young horses and pedigrees in the world perform and to listen to some objective breeder observations.
What can we learn from competitions like this? Some of the biggest studs in Europe failed to make it to the finals, some smaller ones did.
There weren’t many foals out of much-lauded 1.60m performing mares putting winners on the ground and just because a stallion is expensive, doesn’t mean your horse will be any good. So, what’s the recipe for success?
I’m not fit to offer up the definitive but Ballypatrick and Hughes Horse Stud perhaps again demonstrated that it takes a village to raise these horses and riders to win on the biggest world stages.
Big picture thinking from the Irish camps at Lanaken is proving winning formulas are built on the symbiotic nurturing of both horses, riders, and also of business.
I must mention Pádraig McCarthy too, who became the first Irish athlete to win the four-star short course for eight and nine-year-olds at Blenheim International Horse Trials this week, on home-bred MGH Zabaione.
One thing I’m sure of as I commit ink to paper is that it sure is cool to be Irish this week.
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