Kenny triumphs in Dublin and is named on Aga Khan team

Offaly's Darragh Kenny claimed victory in the Sport Ireland Classic on the opening day of the Dublin Horse Show at the RDS on Wednesday evening.

Kenny’s triumph in the day’s feature, in conjunction with his 13-year-old stallion Chic Chic, came at the primary expense of Mikey Pender and the Irish Sport Horse HHS Los Angeles.

Belmont native Kenny was following up last week's four-star victory and subsequent Grand Prix runner-up finish in Deauville, and he celebrated being named the Irish show jumping team competing in Friday’s Aga Khan Cup by claiming top prize in the 1.60m speed class.

Kenny and Chic Chic went clear in a time of 69.17 seconds to become the ninth home rider to prevail in the last ten renewals of the Sport Ireland Classic. The winning time was marginally ahead of Kildare pilot Pender and the Kilkenny-bred HHS Los Angeles (ISH), who stopped the clock on 70.20.

“That’s a good start to the week,” said a grinning Kenny. “It’s always nice to be home here in Dublin. It’s a brilliant show and to win is always great.

“He’s a super horse. He’s been unbelievably consistent all summer. The last five shows he’s been at, he won a ranking class at every one of them except one, which he was second at. He’s been on-form all summer.

“I brought him here for this class and he feels great and he jumped super so I was really happy it all worked out.

“For a little horse he’s got a really big stride and he really tries so you can go at the jumps. You needn’t worry too much about him knocking them down. He doesn’t often knock them down," Kenny added.

Meanwhile, Kenny has been selected on the Ireland team that will compete for the famed Aga Khan Trophy tomorrow (Friday).

After what has been a massively successful season for Michael Blake’s team, a quartet of Darragh Kenny with VDL Cartello, Denis Lynch with Vistogrand, Mark McAuley with GRS Lady Amaro and Cian O’Connor with Fancy De Kergane will enter the fray on Friday bidding to go one better than last year, when they finished as runner-up to Switzerland.

While the Paris Olympics didn’t quite go as the Irish show jumping team had hoped - with Ireland finishing in seventh of 20 nations - Blake is relishing an opportunity to get back to Nations Cup action on home soil.

Blake said: “Obviously the Olympic Games are the pinnacle of the sport but there’s no place like home and we are really looking forward to getting out in front of the Irish fans – we are hopeful we can regain the Aga Khan after winning it in 2022.

“There is something extra special about Dublin and the Aga Khan trophy on the Friday of Horse Show week, jumping at the highest level in front of the best fans in the world, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

An Olympic year always means that changes must be made to line-ups but such is the strength and depth at Blake’s disposal he has yet another strong quartet of combinations to compete with.

He added: “It’s something that we’ve always looked to do, to ensure that our overall squad of riders jump regularly at five-star Nations Cup level, and that is evidenced by the number of riders who have jumped in a Charles Ancona green jacket this season.

“These four are very experienced combinations for the Aga Khan, they’ve all won Nations Cups for us, and I’m very happy with them and their horses ahead of Friday.

Blake added: “Darragh was on the Ocala Longines League of Nations winning team, and he deserves to take his chance on VDL Cartello – the horse is fresh and well and I’m hopeful of a couple of good rounds from them.

“Mark and GRS Lady Amaro have proven themselves time and again, they certainly know how to produce clear rounds in Nations Cups, while Denis has also been in good form with Vistogrand – they were on the exceptionally successful team in Aachen.

“Cian will anchor the team – there’s no more experienced rider than him in our ranks – Fancy De Kergane is a horse that has a really bright future, he has had fantastic results in Nations Cups this year. So we’ve got a nice quartet and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Eight nations will take part in the The Underwriting Exchange Nations Cup of Ireland for the Aga Khan Trophy, with Ireland facing Britain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, United States of America, Sweden and France, and the action will be broadcast live on RTÉ from 1.45pm on Friday.