Kilkenny rider helps Ireland to French Nations Cup glory with five-star success
Danesfort's Seamus Hughes Kennedy had another winning weekend
A remarkable run of form for young Kilkenny show jumper Seamus Hughes Kennedy continued at the weekend, after he produced a flawless double clear round to help Ireland to a superb victory in the five-star Nations Cup at La Baule in France.
Just a week earlier, 23-year-old Hughes-Kennedy from Danesfort had enjoyed huge success at the five-star show in Rome where he took victory in the Six Bar competition before finishing fourth in the Rome Rolex Grand Prix. Ireland faced a tough test in the La Baule Nations Cup where a top class international field had assembled. At the finish though it was the Irish who emerged as winners for the third time in history, with a team that included a mixture of youth and experience.
Wexford's Bertram Allen got Ireland off to the perfect start when he jumped clear as the first rider to enter the arena with the 9-year-old gelding Qonquest De Rigo.
Kilkenny's Seamus Hughes Kennedy and ESI Rocky (ISH), bred in Stoneyford, Co Kilkenny at Ennisnag Stud, were next to go for Ireland and they delivered another textbook clear to keep Ireland on a zero score.
Tipperary's Tom Wachman with Tabasco De Toxandria Z then picked up 8 faults, but that could be discarded when anchor rider Cian O'Connor jumped clear with the 14-year-old gelding Bentley De Sury. That left Ireland on a zero score at the halfway stage and in a tie for the lead with Belgium.
The second round saw Bertram Allen once again jump clear, while Nicola Philippaerts matched that score for Belgium to keep the two nations out in front. Seamus Hughes Kennedy then added another Irish clear, and when 20-year-old Tom Wachman also jumped clear second time out, Ireland were guaranteed to finish on a zero score without the need for Cian O'Connor to jump in the second round. With Peter Devos having one fence down in his second round, Belgium's final rider, Gilles Thomas, had to jump clear to force a jump-off with Ireland. Thomas picked up four faults at the second fence in what was an otherwise perfect round, and that meant Ireland were clear winners as the only team to finish on a zero score. Belgium would finish second on four faults, while Brazil took third place on the podium with 8 faults. Sweden finished fourth, with Britain fifth and Switzerland sixth of the 10 teams that lined out.
Irish team manager Michael Blake explained how winning La Baule was something he had on his radar for some time.
"We came here with high expectations, but when we saw the start list it kind of put us back in our box a bit, Blake said. "But we knew how good we were and if we kept jumping clear, Belgium would have to do the same and so would everyone else. It's been a while since we won here so I am really happy. It's been a great week, we won a Nations Cup on Sunday in Canada and here today so a good week. This [La Baule] was on my bucket list for many years and I never managed to get it done. I put the best possible team I could put together here today. Bertram had a young horse and Cian an older horse and then the two kids [Seamus and Tom] in the middle - they were phenomenal."
Irish Horse Board Director General Alison Corbally added:
"It has been an incredible few weeks for Kilkenny's Seamus Hughes-Kennedy at two of the most famous jumping venues in Europe. To jump double clear in the Rome Grand Prix and again the the La Baule Nations Cup is an outstanding achievement. Huge congratulations to Seamus and to his parents, Melvyn and Clare and also to Andrew and Niall Hughes at Ennisnag Stud who bred ESI Rocky (ISH)."