William Kells of Derrylane, County Cavan, bred Phillip Dutton’s individual Olympic bronze medal winner Mighty Nice for the USA in Rio last week.

“I watched it all on the TV and was really delighted with the outcome,” he tells The Irish Horse. William notes that Mighty Nice is out of his mare Sarazen by Penistone that he bought as a foal back in 1987.

“I have always been fond of the horses,” he says. This has been especially true of Sarazen who, at age 30, still resides on his Cavan farm. “She bred many good foals for us and I still have a full sister to Mighty Nice out of her by Ard Ohio that I am breeding from at present.”

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This daughter of Sarazan is called Corradarran Miss Ohio and right now he has a yearling and a foal out of her, both are by Ronnie Hollinger’s Creevagh Ferro that stands at Drumhowan Stud in Castleblaney.

William recalls selling Mighty Nice as a foal at Cavan Sales back in 1905 to a man from County Clare.

Cheque

“The first I heard about him doing well was when I got a cheque for €100 from the Irish Horse Board after he qualified for the RDS for June Burgess,” he says.

As a three-year-old, he had been sold to Tommy and Alan Wade at Goresbridge.

He later went on to be competed in eventing by Ireland’s Joseph Murphy before being sold to the USA for Phillip Dutton to ride. Having come a good fourth in the big Rolex event at Lexington earlier this year, Mighty Nice sealed his place on Team USA’s side for Rio.

A brilliant clear with just 3.20 time penalties over what was the toughest cross-country course in the history of the sport boosted him into contention for a medal.

With just a further five points to add show jumping, he and Phillip earned their podium finish behind German ace Michael Jung and Astier Nicolas of France.

The fact that from his Cavan home William Kells was able to watch this progeny from his superb mare do so well at the very pinnacle of world and Olympic competition is a wonderful story. Or as William says himself, “quite a delight”.

Mighty Nice came through the Future Event Horse League adn the Young Event Horse classes at the RDS.

Then named Over The Vee, he placed seventh in the five-year-old class in 2009 with rider Seamus Hayes.

This medal performance along with a fourth place from Paulank Brockagh (ISH) and Sam Griffiths of Australia plus ninth by Cooley Rorkes Drift (ISH) for Ireland’s Jonty Evans may well help boost the Irish Stud Book into first place once more on the World Sport Horse eventing chart for one more year.