Kenny and Cartello bag five-star GP in Monterrey

Darragh Kenny holds the trophy aloft after winning the five-star GNP Seguros Grand Prix with VDL Cartello at Club Hípico La Silla in Monterrey in the early hours of this morning (Ashley Neuhof/MLSJ)

Dual Olympic stallion secures maiden elite GP win five weeks before retirement

Emotions were high in Monterrey overnight as Darragh Kenny was rewarded for an all-or-nothing approach to secure a maiden five-star Grand Prix for his double Olympic partner VDL Cartello, just weeks ahead of the 17-year-old’s retirement from top-flight show jumping.
Kenny and the horse that made “so many of my dreams come true at high levels,” have been successful all around the world, individually and as part of the Underwriting Exchange Irish Show Jumping team competing in Nations Cups, most recently being part of Michael Blake’s squad at the Olympics in Paris, four years after reaching the individual final in Tokyo.
But a five-star Grand Prix had been missing from the veteran stallion’s CV until the early hours of this morning Irish time, when the duo beat off some of the greats of their sport to land the GNP Seguros Grand Prix in Mexico.
There was good news too for Conor Swail, as the Down man’s sixth place with My Lady Lavista moved him above Kent Farrington (USA) to the top of the individual standings at the end of the seventh leg of the lucrative Major League Show Jumping series.
Earlier in the day, Sligo native, Richard Howley took five-star honours with Mansini Ltd, having contributed one time fault from two rounds on Zodiak Du Buisson Z the night before to help the Roadrunners win the team event, for which they are the overall leaders.
But this was extra special, as Cartello will make his final competitive appearance in Geneva in just over five weeks’ time.
The Holsteiner grey, owned by Heathman Farm, galloped to a blistering clear round in 36.27 seconds in an absorbing six-combo jump-off at the Club Hípico La Silla, where the first four home were separated by just a second.
Emanuele Camilli (ITA) chased the Irish leaders hard but needed to find another eight-hundredths of a second with Odense Odeveld.
Third went to Sameh El Dahan (GBR), riding WKD Aimez Moi, a 14-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare he owns together with breeder Joanne Sloan-Allen. They stopped the clock at 36.48 seconds.
Fourth-placed Christian Ahlmann (GER) also got it under 37 seconds, partnering Dourkhan Hero Z.
Shane Sweetnam and RR Combella secured a top-ten finish in eighth but the dual Olympian from Cork only missed out on the jump-off due to an unlucky time fault, having never looked like dropping a pole the whole way around.
The day was all about Kenny and Cartello however, and the world No 22 from Offaly admitted that he threw caution to the wind in pursuit of a landmark result. Cartello followed every direction and answered every question, illustrating that he will be going out at very near the peak of his powers.

VDL Cartello on the way to winning a first ever five-star Grand Prix in Monterrey, guided expertly by Darragh Kenny (Ashley Neuhof/MLSJ)

“He made so many of my dreams come true at high levels, so to win a five-star grand prix on him towards the end of his career is very cool,” said Kenny. “He’s been an incredible horse for me, and honestly, it’s been nothing but fun.”
“Somehow we’ve always missed out on a five-star grand prix win, so I thought I’d risk everything to see what could happened and I honestly have never gone this fast with him. He’s a super-brave horse, so I could take a risk one to two doing the seven. I went as fast as I could to the oxer and took another risk to the wall. He had a little touch there, but it stayed up.
“I’ve always wanted to win this grand prix, and to be able to do it with this horse in this moment is pretty special.”
MLSJ action now heads to the season finals at Desert International Horse Park in La Quinta, California. The back-to-back weeks feature the $1m five=star Coachella Cup and MLSJ Individual Final on December 7 before MLSJ crowns a new season champion in the Team Final on December 14.

BREEDING

WKD AIMEZ MOI (ISH) – 2010 mare by Je t’Aime Flamenco (BWP) out of My Honey Hill (ISH) by. Breeder: Joanne Sloan Allen, Co. Antrim. Owner: Joanne Sloan Allen & Sameh El Dahan. Rider: Sameh El Dahan (GBR).