Out of a massive overall entry of 697 of the best young horses in the world, six Irish sport horses made it through two incredibly tough qualifying rounds in the FEI World Breeding Jumping Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken.

In the end, our best results for the Irish Sport Horse studbook were a second and fourth in the five-year-old championship, with Bertram Allen providing the only double clear in the seven-year-old championship on Barnike (Balwin B x Animo) to score a win for the Dutch Riding Horse and Pony Studbook (NRPS).

Five-year-olds

Four Irish sport horses out of a qualifying group of 236 made it through to the five-year-old final. These included: First into the arena Pembrook Milenia, a bay mare by Diamant de Semilly out of a Lux Z dam, bred by our Irish Horse editor Joanne Fox and her husband Finbar Mulligan at Kilmashogue Stud in Co Dublin and ridden for Britain by Stacey Babes; Deep Pockets, a chesnut gelding by OBOS Quality out of a Cruising dam, bred by Charles Pidgeon, Co Westmeath, and ridden for Ireland by Jim Derwin; Ard Ginger Pop, a chesnut mare by Luidam out of a Cruising dam, bred by Heather Dean-Wright and ridden for Sweden by Angelica Augustsson; and Little Beach, a grey mare by Beach Ball out of a Coevers Diamond Boy dam, bred by Norman Watt.

Out of the 44 that jumped in Sunday’s Championship, both Ard Ginger Pop and Pembrook Milenia were among the 13 that went clear again to place second and fourth behind Dutch rider Maikel Van Mierlo and Earley (KWPN). Jim Derwin had one unfortunate fence down on Deep Pockets to place 26th. Little Beach was retired.

Formerly ridden by Ireland’s Ger O’Neill, Ard Ginger Pop (ISH) has enjoyed huge success on the national circuit this year. Purchased for €95,000 at the Goresbridge Supreme Sale earlier this month, Ard Ginger Pop (ISH) is now co-owned by Carl Hanley and Ashford Farm’s Enda Carroll.

Six-year-olds

Ireland’s single finalist in six-year-olds was Mini Cruzano, a chesnut mare by Silvano out of a Cruising dam, bred by Oliver Walsh in Galway. Ridden by Thomas O’Brien, she went clear in the first round. But with fences down in the jump-off, she finished ninth behind German ace Christian Ahlmann on the Westfalian gelding Hui Buh by Cornado.

Seven-year-olds

Our seven-year-old contender was Shantonagh, a bay gelding by Power Blade out of the King of Diamonds mare Diamond Explosion, bred by Dermot Forde in Co Cavan and ridden by Nicola FitzGibbons. Unfortunately, the polished combination did not make the jump-off, which was won by a foot-perfect Bertram Allen and Barnike (NRPS). 

In taking gold, Bertram Allen made history as the first combination to have recorded back-to-back wins at this prestigious event.

Consolation

Michael Kearins scored a win in Saturday’s five-year- old consolation class on the Numero Uno Dutch mare Emymolga. Lucy Buchanan came third in that with the Irish team horse LCC Puss N Boots (Lux Z/Spring Elegance). Thomas O’Brien had a second in the seven-year-old consolation with the Belgian-bred Hector Van d’Abdijhoeve.