Magic in Madrid for O’Connor

Cian O’Connor and Gengis Kann de Londe on teh way to five-star glory in the first competition of the Longines Global Champions League at Madrid

Turkington, Coyle and McCarthy triumphant too on big week for Irish

Cian O’Connor made his seasonal debut on the five-star Longines Global Champions Tour a winning one in Madrid, while there were four-star triumphs for Emily Turkington and Jordan Coyle on Italian and American soil, and Simon McCarthy scored at three-star level in the US on a week of numerous strong results for Irish show jumpers.

And nearer to home, Jessica Burke led home an Irish 1-2 in two-star fare in Balmoral.

O’Connor recently moved up to tenth in the Longines World Rankings, his highest ever position, and with the Karlswood Partners ownership syndicate, is accumulating a roster of horses that must be the envy of most of the world’s elite riders.

Gengis Kann de Londe is one of the most recent acquisitions and the exciting nine-year-old excelled on the way to winning the first Longines Global Champions League competition on the fourth leg of the LGCT in the Spanish capital on Friday.

It was a strong class too for Denis Lynch, whose fourth place with Brooklyn Heights helped him move up to third in the individual rankings on the LGCT, which are headed now by Gilles Thomas (BEL).

Lynch and his 16-year-old were 10^th of 59 high-class starters into the arena for the 1.55m speed class and they set a very high standard by going clear in 69.93.

Indeed, the Tipperary pilot and the gelding he co-owns with Molly Ohrstrom were one of only four combinations to break the 70-second mark.

Yet their time at the top of the tree did not last too long as O’Connor and his neophyte were just four combinations after and set a time while going clear over the 15 obstacles that blew the opposition away.

The Meath-based Kildare-born Olympic medallist and his son of Kannan stopped the clock on 66.86 seconds, which was well clear of Jérôme Guery (FRA) and Killer Queen, who posted a clear in 68.17.

“I was delighted with the win on Friday,” said O’Connor. “He’s a horse we bought at the back end of last year in France and I’m really hopeful that he will step up to some major competitions this year. It’s so easy for him and he just loves the big grass arenas where he can get on a big gallop and express himself so well.”

Lynch’s Premier County compatriot, Tom Wachman was making his debut in the LGCL and he made it onto the podium with his St Tropez Pirates teammates, Mariano Martinez Bastida (ESP) and Philippe Rozier (FRA), as they finished third when the results of the two League competitions were added up.

Wachman was down the field in the first competition, although he only had one rail down with Do It Easy, but he was in the money in the second competition, going clear with Tabasco de Toxandria Z to help propel the Pirates up the table.

Tom Wachman and Tabasco de Toxandria Z go clear on debut in the LGCL

“I’m delighted,” said Wachman. “(It) couldn’t have gone any better. Very happy… After round 1, we both had one down so to come back to third from eighth was very good. We weren’t expecting that from the first round. When I came out I didn’t think we had a chance of a podium so to end up on it was brilliant.”

O’Connor and Gengis Kann de Londe were fourth in the 49^th edition of the prestigious Copa SM El Rey 24 hours later.

The class was won by Germany’s Katrin Eckermann and Chao Lee, who stopped the clock in 38.51 in the jump-off. O’Connor, no doubt conscious of what his young breakout star had done already in following up the exertions of the previous day with another brilliant clear round, opted for caution in the tie-breaker, going clear once more in a time of 40.32.

Two more Irish combos made the jump-off in the €105,500 contest. Lynch and Brooklyn Heights were looking to back up last year’s success and were putting in a very competitive effort when making an uncharacteristic error at the penultimate obstacle, leaving them fastest of the four-faulters in eighth.

Wachman and Do It Easy also had a rail down but secured some prize money nonetheless in 12^th.

On Sunday, O’Connor and Bentley de Sury were fifth in the €500,000 Grand Prix, won by the world ranked No 264 Ioli Mytilineou (GRE) with L’Artiste de Toxandra.

The Karlswood pair were second-fastest in the seven-strong decider having set some blistering early fractions but one jumping error at the Madrid oxer in the middle of the arena cost them a podium position.

There were two four-star successes for Irish riders on Saturday, as Jordan Coyle and Emily Turkington scored on American and Italian soil respectively.

It was a huge win for Turkington in the 1.50m main class at Gorla Minore with Cornet, the horse that has delivered for her so often. The Cookstown athlete and David Loughran’s handsome grey went clear in 65.06 at the Equieffe Equestrian Centre. That was a second and a half faster than the time posted by Barbara Schnieper (SUI) and Toronto Raptor.

“I’m really happy with how the class went,” Turkington said. “The course was spot on, very well designed and I had a feeling I Could win from the start. My horse jumped brilliantly and has been in great shape for the past months.”

Coyle did the business at the North Salem show in New York state, navigating the 1.45m course at Old Salem Farm with precision and pace on board Falkirk Farm’s Jorisca, beating off the challenge of Nayel Nassar (EGY) and Donvier.

He had been the pathfinder on For Gold, who actually set the quickest time but one rail down enabled him to tweak his approach slightly to land the spoils.

“This (is) quite green to going fast,” Coyle noted. “The jumps weren’t so big today, and this gave her a good experience with that. If the rail had stayed up with my first horse, I wouldn’t have necessarily gone slower with the second, but I would’ve gone a little steadier. I made a bit of a mistake on For Gold; I should’ve trusted him more at that double. Maybe that would’ve been the class over from the start (but) I don’t believe the class is over until it’s over.

“I really like this mare, actually. I was very fortunate that my wife’s father bought the horse for me, and hopefully, she’s everything that we’re expecting her to be. She did a few five-star grands prix in Wellington and did quite well.”

The Ardmore pilot and Jorisca were outstanding once more as part of a brilliant Irish representation in the €225,000 Empire State Grand Prix on Sunday, supplementing their week’s work with a third-place finish.

That was just behind Philip McGuane on Orphea HQ, while Darragh Kenny and Diaroubet were fourth. McLain Ward (USA) backed up last year’s victory, this time on board his outstanding 17-year-old mare Callas.

Coyle held the lead with a 33.18 second clear round but Ward and Calls bettered that. McGuane and Orphea HQ gave it all they had but were just under four-tenths of a second slower than the 32.57 posted by the victors.

Coyle took the bronze medal also in the four-star Welcome Stake of North Salem on Friday night, steering For Gold to the podium in behind all-conquering victor McLain Ward (USA), riding Snapchat Van De Broekkant Z, and Daniel Bluman (ISR) with Landon De Nyze.

The Derry native navigated one of six double clears around Alan Wade’s course on his Falkirk Farms horse, their jump-off time of 32.78 only 0.16 off the winning mark.

In keeping with the week’s show jumping around the world, the depth chart among the Green Jackets was showcased once more, with Kenny in fourth on Zero K and McGuane completing the top five with Paso Doble SCF.

On Wednesday, McCarthy and Narcotique V/H Dingenshof (above) kicked to a three-star victory in the Welcome Stakes, a 1.45m speed class at Kentucky Horse Park.

The Cork-born athlete was delighted to record this success with the 12-year-old mare he has owned since the beginning of the year, and they cruised to an almost three-second triumph in the Rolex Stadium at the famed Lexington venue, registering a clear in 60.39 from Cathleen Driscoll (USA) and Flotylla.

Another Irishman, Down native, Conor Swail was third, with One Edition.

“It feels great,” McCarthy told reporters afterwards. “It’s always nice to get off to a good start to the week like that, so I am thrilled with my horse.

“Honestly, she’s just incredibly fast across the ground, so I did pretty much the same numbers as Conor Swail. I watched him go, and I knew I could trust her ground speed and do the numbers.

“Ilan Ferder gave her to me to ride, and then I purchased her at the beginning of this year. After I purchased her, we went through a bit of a lull results-wise, so it’s nice to see that she’s finding a bit of form again.

“I love Kentucky. Rockridge Farm, where we are based, is only two hours from here, so I get to come here for the shows, and I love it. it’s just an amazing facility – there’s so much room to ride and the scenery is amazing, so it’s always nice to win in a nice place.”

At the end of the week, Shane Sweetnam and his brilliant Olympic partner, James Kann Cruz (ISH) were just denied victory in the three-star $125,000 Grand Prix at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington by a quarter of a second on Saturday night.

The Castlemagner rider and his 12-year-old bred by Patrick Connolly in Co Galway and owned by Gizmo Partners, registered two clear rounds in the Rolex Stadium but their jump-off time of 35.08 was bested by Luis Pedro Biraben (ARG), riding Chacco Bumpy, who went around in 34.84.

At the Royal Windsor Horse Show, Sweetnam’s fellow Corkman, Billy Twomey got into the top five of the lucrative five-star Rolex Grand Prix. The 1.60m examination was passed with honours by Gregory Wathelet (BEL) with Bond Jamesbond de Hay, who registered the fastest jump-off time of 37.18, just ahead of Harrie Smolder (NED) and Monaco on 37.24.

Twomey and Jumping Jack van de Kalevallei had two excellent clear rounds, and their steady time of 40.16 secured €35,000 for connections.

Michael Duffy picked up some decent prize money when notching up a fifth-place finish in the Defender Challenge Stakes at the five-star Royal Windsor Horse Show on Saturday. Riding Balouwinsky, the Galwegian registered one of only five double clears in the Castle Arena to nab a decent share of the pot.

And he followed up with the same result in the very next class, The King’s Cup. This was a very difficult examination, with 16 jumping efforts and a very tight time allowed that caught many combinations out.

Duffy and Be Sky Hawk were foot perfect over the various obstacles but two time faults meant they missed out on the jump-off, which comprised just Kim Emmen (NED) with Keavanta-C and Martin Fuchs (SUI) with Commisar Pezi and it was Fuchs who prevailed with the only double clear.

Jessica Burke and her admirable Liam Nicholas-owned-and-bred Express Trend led a home 1-2 at two-star level in Balmoral, the Galwegian taking the spoils in the CAB Group & Dunlop Homes International Grand Prix (supported by Bottlegreen) with a time of 40.36 in a jump-off from Frano Derwin and another Irish Sport Horse, the Knightfield Stud-bred Flexi K, who stopped the clock on 40.36.

BREEDING

CSF JAMES KANN CRUZ (ISH) – 2013 gelding by Kannan (KWPN) out of CSF Telly Cruz (ISH) by Cruising (ISH)[TIH]. Breeder: Patrick Connolly, Co Galway. Owner: Gizmo Partners, LLC. Rider: Shane Sweetnam (IRL).

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).

FLEXI K (ISH) – 2013 ch gelding by Flex A Bill/Flexible (ISH)[TIH] out of Deeply Kippy K (ISH) by Luidam (KWPN). Breeder: Knightfield Stud. Owner & Rider: Francis Derwin (IRL)