Mikey Pender sees-off Paris Olympic medallists to win five-star Longines Grand Prix of Barcelona

Ireland’s Mickey Pender scored one of the biggest wins of his career late last night (Saturday), as he took a magnificent victory in the €300,000 five-star Longines Grand Prix at the League Of Nations Final in Barcelona, Spain.

It was a stunning performance from the 25-year-old Kildare rider and his Irish-bred partner HHS Calais (ISH), as they triumphed against a world-class field that included that all three individual Olympic medalists from this years Paris Olympic Games.

The start list of 43 horses and riders was reduced to 12 combinations for the second round jump-off, with Pender last to go against the clock after he had posted the fastest first round clear. Sweden’s Rolf-Göran Bengtsson with Zuccero Hv had set what looked like an unbeatable time of 51.64 seconds. However Pender and the long-striding HHS Calais (ISH), who was bred in Kilkenny by the late Ita Brennan, incredibly shaved almost a second off the target to take victory in 50.88. That left Bengtsson as runner-up while Spain’s Armando Trapote, riding Tornado Vs, finished third after holding the lead in the early part of the jump-off.

The win for Pender comes just a fortnight after he claimed a gold medal at the Young Horse World Championships in Belgium, while Pender and HHS Calais (ISH) jumped double clear at the start of September in the five-star BMO Nations Cup at Spruce Meadows in Canada to help Ireland to a runner-up finish.

Irish Horse Board Director General Alison Corbally said:

“Huge congratulations to Mikey, to winning owner Marion Hughes and all the team at Hughes Horse Stud and to the Brennan family in Kilkenny who bred HHS Calais (ISH). Once again Irish breeding has come out on top against what really was a world class line-up.”

Barcelona will host the inaugural Longines League Of Nations final on Sunday with Ireland among the nine teams hoping to lift the trophy.

BREEDING

HHS Calais (ISH) – 2011 gelding by Cavalier Royale (HOLST) out of MHS OBOS Cruise (ISH) by OBOS Quality (OLD). Breeder: Ita Brennan, Co. Kilkenny. Owner: Bravo Hughes Ltd.