O’Shea, McAuley and Burke all on podium at four-star level
The Longines Global Champions Tour yielded two huge five-star triumphs for Irish athletes, with Neal Fearon and Mikey Pender hitting the target on the 11th leg of the tour at Riesenbeck.
Fearon ensured the first rendition of Amhrán na bhFiann at the German venue when piloting Derryglen Obsidian to victory in a two-phase class on Friday.
And then, 24 hours later, Pender secured a high-profile success in the second Global Champions League competition, with the Marion Hughes-bred Irish Sport Horse HHS Los Angeles.
The Castledermot native, joined by Denis Lynch on the New York Empire team, was buoyed by the performance of Madgeslane Louis (ISH), the eight-year-old he bred and co-owns with his mother Annmarie, in the opening 1.55m speed class.
A star of the future, the chestnut took to this test extremely well, with just four faults, while Tom Wachman and Fearon jumped clear rounds to secure top ten positions, with Lexington (7th) and Cocktail de Talma (8th) respectively.
There were 51 combinations participating in the second GCL competition. A total of 19 jumped clear in the 1.60m speed class but the margins were fine.
Pender and Los Angeles were 21st into the arena and while the 26-year-old had to be happy with the time of 72.78, while leaving each of the 16 jumps intact, it was too much to ask that he would remain at the top of the pile with the calibre of rider and horse still to come
Jana Wargers had the home crowd off their seats with the 16-year-old Dorette OLD but when the timers stopped, the German was close but just off, registering a clear in 73.05.
France’s Simon Delestre completed the top three with the talented nine-year-old, Golden Boy DK.
It was a 12th FEI victory for Pender this season and a second at five-star level with Los Angeles, having also scored in a two-round class in Doha last February.
“I’m delighted with Los Angeles with how she jumped,” said Pender from Riesenbeck the following morning.
“It was quite a difficult class. I had a good plan going in, to be smooth, maybe not take too much risk.
“There was one or two people got close to me in the end but I was lucky enough to hang on. She jumped brilliant and feels in good form.
“In the first round I jumped an eight-year-old (Madgeslane Louis),. He had one down, he was the only eight-year-old in the field so I was delighted with him too. So it was a good day overall.”
It was a huge day for Fearon on Friday, when the Kildare-based Cavan man grabbed five-star glory with Derryglen Obsidian in the 1.45m two-phase class in the Main Stadium.
The Ludger’s Welcome Class, a nod to the legendary Ludger Beerbaum who built and runs Riesenbeck along with Constantin Freiherr Heereman, featured a host of the world’s best riders among the field of 43 but it was Fearon and his ten-year-old mare owned by Deirdre Reilly that held the upper hand.
They zipped through the gears in the speed sector to record a double clear in 32.73 and see off Annelies Vorsselmans (BEL) with Trezeguet by just over three-quarters of a second.
The achievement can be put into perspective by the fact that 18 combinations did not complete the speed sector, such was the challenge it presented.
Paul O’Shea split Nayel Nassar (EGY) and Luis Fernando Larrazabal (VEN) on the podium as the Old Salem Farm September Horse Shows got under way on Wednesday with a four-star two-phase class.
O’Shea and Squirt Gun were third of 43 combinations into the arena but they produced a round that proved beyond all bar one, recording a double clear in 24.50. The 14-year-old gelding has been a brilliantly doughty competitor for his American-based Kildimo rider and together they make a great team.
Remarkably, O’Shea did not have to wait long to know he wasn’t going to win the 1.45m competition. The Limerick man was put out of his misery very soon as Nassar squeezed out another quarter of a second out of the speed phase while leaving every rail intact to set a standard of 24.26 with Dorado de Riverland that would not be beaten.
Gort athlete, Jessica Burke also made a four-star podium with the Liam Nicholas-owned-and-bred Express Trend, bagging third in a speed class in Ascona.
Of the 52 participants, 25 jumped clear so it was all about the pace and Burke and her 15-year-old gelding were among the quickest, registering a time of 60.55 to secure the bronze medal, with the gold going to Douglas Lindelöw (SWE) and Charlie’s Way.
They followed up on Saturday with a fifth place finish in a 1.50m two-round competition, Express Trend unlucky to rub a rail in the jump-off.
Louth’s Mark McAuley moved the Tricolour to the middle berth of the podium at the Italian show on Saturday, combining with Django Ste Hermelle to bag second in a four-star 1.45m class.
The duo were among nine to record double clears but their speed and niftiness ensured a strong finish, the jump-off time of 36.22 not troubling Switzerland’s Edouard Schmitz and Karel Doorman, but just five-hundredths of a second quicker than Schmitz’s compatriot, Bryan Balsiger with Fais Toi Bell du Seigneur Pleville.
Philip McGuane, from Corofin, Co Clare, maintained his recent good form with a two-star triumph at Old Salem, steering Crislin van de Bosrand Z to victory in the Welcome Stakes.
BREEDING
HHS LOS ANGELES (ISH) – 2014 mare by Le Roi (ZDP) out of China Cavalier (ISH) by Cavalier Royale (HOLST). Breeder: Marion Hughes. Owner: Bravo Hughes Ltd. Rider: Michael Pender (IRL).
MADGESLANE LOUIS (ISH)– 2017 ch gelding by Luidam (KWPN) out of Madges Lane Karol (ISH) by Obos Quality 004 (OLDBG). Breeder: Michael Pender: Owner: AnnMarie & Michael Pender. Rider: Michael Pender
EXPRESS TREND (ISH) – 2010 gelding by Future Trend (OLD) out of Condios Express (ISH) by Condios (HOLST). Breeder and owner: Liam Nicholas. Rider: Jessica Burke (IRL).