Vintage times can roll again for Irish jumpers
When I was growing up I avidly followed the exploits of showjumpers like Eddie Macken, Captain Con Power, James Kernan and Paul Darragh as they represented Ireland at home and abroad with great success.
All four made up the Irish team that won the prestigious Aga Khan trophy at the Dublin Horse show for three years in a row (1977-79) which was an incredible achievement. They were the pioneers and set the way for the men and women who followed and now we have a strength in depth that is the envy of every other equestrian nation in the world.
Our junior and pony riders bring back medals every year from the big European competitions and the pathway is producing superb talent. But like all high performance sports the pyramid is incredibly narrow at the top and only the best climb to be professional riders on the world stage.
It’s not an easy road to follow and for geographical reasons as much as anything else there is often a necessity to leave Ireland to develop and compete. Some go to the continent and others to the United States to earn their stripes because that is where the big yards and the shows are, although in recent years there have been some lucrative shows in the Middle East added to the calendar in which our riders have competed and won big pots.
In October I started a new role as acting head of high performance for Horse Sport Ireland and part of my brief is to help support our teams and riders leading up to the Paris Olympics. We have qualified to compete in four disciplines — show jumping, eventing, dressage and para dressage. Each has their own High Performance Director, or Chef d’équipe, and they are all following their performance plans to be able to bring the best riders and horses to Versailles, where the equine competitions are being held, in peak form.
We will be hoping to be competitive in all disciplines but at the moment there is no denying that our best chance lies with our showjumping team. The Irish team under the guidance of Clare man Michael Blake turned into 2024 as the number one ranked team in the world and have started the year on fire.
This year saw the launch of a new competition, the Longines League of Nations, for the top 10 in the world. It comprises four qualifiers — in Abu Dhabi, Ocala, St Gallen and Rotherham — before the final in Barcelona on October 6.
Ireland finished second in Abu Dhabi with Richard Howley, Michael Pender, Denis Lynch and Mark McAuley. The second leg was last weekend in Ocala and I was lucky enough to be able to attend.
Ocala is nestled in the heart of central Florida and wears the title of ‘Horse Capital of the World’. Marion County boasts over 1,200 horse farms, covering more than 77,000 acres. Among these, 900 are thoroughbred farms and the majority of the racehorses in America are broken and pre-trained there.
But in recent years it has become a serious player in the showjumping world, mainly down to the backing of the Roberts family who have built the World Equestrian Centre. The venue was sold out last Saturday and that was no surprise with 18 of the top 20 riders in the world competing.
Blake selected Cian O’Connor, Darragh Kenny, Daniel Coyle and Shane Sweetman. The teams where competing for a total prize fund of $700,000 which is not insignificant but to give context, last night in Wellington at the Rolex 5 Star Grand Prix, the above four and Paul O’Shea, Andrew Bourns and Jordan Coyle were the seven Irish riders amongst the 41 who were competing as individuals for a pot of $500,000. We are lucky our riders love representing Ireland and competing as a team and often sacrifice their own personal gain to do so.
The Longines League of Nations takes the same format as the Olympics. All four riders compete in the first round and then the chef d’equipe decides which three will jump again in the second round. Only eight teams go through to the second round with two being eliminated. Cian O’Connor was due to ride as anchor in the first round, but when our first three riders went clear, Blake decided he would withdraw him as we had guaranteed qualification.
The logic was that being fresh would be an advantage and when it was O’Connor’s turn to jump in the second round, we knew that a clear round would win the competition for Ireland. O’Connor and his horse Maurice duly went clear and Ireland beat one of the strongest line-ups ever in a nations cup.
Like all great sporting events there was drama and intrigue until the very end. All sports have to evolve to continue to grow and like T20 has increased cricket’s popularity, the Longines League of Nations could be a great way to bring showjumping back into the mainstream. The sport already has a loyal following, but being behind a paywall doesn’t help to attract new fans. Hopefully the League of Nations and the Olympics will attract more coverage.
Having come from professional rugby and having spent time with some of the best in other sports, I can tell you that these riders are on a level with the top golfers or tennis players in the world. They travel the world competing in incredible arenas for prize money, but are often running a business at the same time.
Our show jumpers often coach, produce and develop both human and horse as part of their daily routine and have all got interesting and great stories to tell. Shane Sweetnam, who is from North Cork but is based full-time in Florida, rides a beautiful grey Irish-bred horse called James Khan Cruz which many say is the best horse in the world. Darragh Kenny from Offaly rode in his first Grand Prix at 14 years of age and won a bursary in 2007 to train in Vermont. He has consistently been in the world’s Top 10 riders since.
Cian O’Connor is on a mission to compete in his fourth Olympics and is closing in on nearly 150 appearances for Ireland. Daniel Coyle left Ireland to work under another of our top riders, Conor Swail, in 2015 and through hard work and perseverance is now riding a brilliant mare called Legacy for Canadian owner Ariel Grange.
Fourteen of the top 100 showjumpers in the world are now Irish and there will be more coming. The top five under 25 riders for the season featured Francis Derwin first and Tom Wachman in third. Derwin has studied under Kenny and Wachman is coached by O’Connor. With role models like that, the present and the future look bright.