Waterford rider jumps to success at prestigious Horse of The Year Show

Waterford native Commandant Geoff Curran added to his superb record at the Horse of The Year Show in Birmingham last weekend, by taking victory in the opening international Show Jumping competition.

The Irish army rider from Fenor, close to Tramore, produced a dominant display to win The Dick Turpin Stakes with DHF Alliance, who was bred by Paul Douglas in Co Tyrone and was also a winner back in August at the Dublin Horse Show.

Their time of 56.86 seconds proved more than two-and-a-half seconds quicker than runner-up Paul Barker of Great Britain with Strides Maureen, while William Whitaker and Active Spirit finished third.

“She won it very well,” Geoff said following the competition.

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“She is a very fast mare naturally, and if I do my job and keep it smooth, she is faster than most. I have every confidence in her. That’s the way she likes to go, and normally when I interfere with the way she likes to go she doesn’t like it, so I leave her go at her own pace.

“She is relatively green in terms of indoor competitions, so I am really chuffed with that. It was a good atmosphere – quite an experience for her – and she handled it really well.”

Commandant Curran was Puissance champion at the Horse of The Year Show in 2022 and 2023 and was bidding for a hat-trick of wins over the big red wall this year.

He came up just short on this occasion, although he did take a share of third place when picking up four faults in the fourth round aboard Bishops Quarter.

Victory went to Britain's Joseph Trunkfield and Locomotion as the only combination to clear the wall in the final round.