Ireland’s Kenny and Coyle impress at London International Horse Show
Day three of the London International Horse Show on Friday at the Excel Arena in England, saw Irish riders feature strongly, with a win for Offaly’s Darragh Kenny in the Christmas Tree Stakes, while Derry’s Daniel Coyle scored a fourth place finish in the Longines Grand Prix.
The Christmas Tree Speed Stakes saw 10 combinations advance to the jump-off. Second to go against the clock, Darragh Kenny with the long-striding gelding Chaccossini, set the pressure on the remaining combinations with a time of 33.13 seconds. None of the remaining riders could match Kenny’s pace; however, Donald Whitaker (GBR) came closest to Kenny’s time to claim second place, with last year’s class winner Lorenzo de Luca (ITA) taking third. John Whitaker (GBR) and Ben Maher (GBR) rounded out the top five, taking fourth and fifth places, respectively.
Speaking after the class, Kenny said: “I was quite worried I wasn’t going to make it into the second round as I hadn’t done the turn to the last line that most people did, and that left me quite slow, so in the second round I thought I’d better do the opposite! He has a huge stride, so I could do one less in the first line, one less across the middle, which nobody else was able to do, and one less to the last – he’s very careful and he’s very brave, so you can rely on him.”
On Chaccossini, Kenny continued: “This is my second show with him – I took him to one two-star show where he won the ranking class and then I brought him here. He’s a really cool horse, he’s fun, he’s easy to ride, he’s not complicated at all, so I’m really enjoying him.”
Friday’s feature five-star Longines Grand Prix saw Daniel Coyle and the brilliant 14-year-old mare Legacy secure a fourth place finish. Just six of the 35 starters jumped clear in the first round, with Coyle first to go against the clock. The Irish rider produced the fastest time of the jump-off (36.57) however one fence down denied him victory. The winners prize went to Spanish rider Mariano Martinez Bastida and Jup with a clear in 37.15.
Saturday’s action at the London International Horse Show includes the 1m50 Snowflake Stakes and the 1m50 Longines Christmas Cracker. The London International Horse Show comes to a close on Sunday following the Longines FEI World Cup Grand Prix.