Darragh Kenny led home an Irish 1-2 in the Sport Ireland Classic on the opening day of the Dublin Horse Show at the RDS.
Kenny's triumph in the day’s feature, in conjunction with his 13-year-old stallion Chic Chic, came at the primary expense of Mikey Pender and HHS Los Angeles.
This positive result for Irish riders – Cian O’Connor also finished fourth on Fermoy, just ahead of world number one Henrik Von Eckermann and Glamour Girl – concluded a day that started with European Championship U21 team gold and individual silver medallist Francis Derwin (below) also recording five-star glory in the first international class of the show this morning.
Kenny was following up last week's four-star victory and subsequent Grand Prix runner-up finish in Deauville, and he celebrated being named on the Irish team competing in Friday’s Aga Khan Cup by claiming top prize in the 1.60m speed class.
Kenny and Chic Chic went clear in a time of 69.17 seconds to become the ninth home rider to prevail in the last 10 renewals of the Sport Ireland Classic.
The winning time was marginally ahead of Kildare pilot Pender and HHS Los Angeles, who stopped the clock on 70.20.
"That’s a good start to the week," said Kenny. "It’s always nice to be home here in Dublin. It’s a brilliant show and to win is always great.
"He’s a super horse. He’s been unbelievably consistent all summer. The last five shows he’s been at, he won a ranking class at every one of them except one, which he was second at. He’s been on-form all summer.
"For a little horse he’s got a really big stride and he really tries so you can go at the jumps. You needn’t worry too much about him knocking him down. He doesn’t often knock them down."
The first international class of the week went to
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