Irish showjumpers dominated Friday's action at Bolesworth International as they showcased the country's enviable strength in depth. Darragh Kenny and Dermott Lennon delivered the two biggest wins of the day; in the CSI4* 1.50 competition sponsored by Cazenove Capital Management and in the 1.45 competition presented by Watts Commercial Finance. 

Kenny's ride Go Easy De Muze (Vigo d´Arsouilles x For Pleasure) has only been with him for three weeks, but the two still dominated a jump-off of more than 20 riders prevailing by almost two seconds from Joe Whitaker and Lola V (Locarno 62), with Brazil's Felipe Amaral on Premiere Carthoe BZ (Carthago x Voltner) third and Victoria Gulliksen on Viego Les Hauts (Ogano Sitte x Clinton) fourth.

"It was a really good win. I am very happy with that," Kenny said. "I have only had the horse for about three weeks, and that was only our second class over 1.45 metres. He feels amazing. I think he is going to be a really cool horse for the future. He was the Dutch champion this year with its previous rider, and he also won the Grand Prix in Eindhoven."

"It was a testing jump-off. There were only four double-clears. There were big open distances and big verticals, but that suits my horse. I have really big hopes for him. He will jump the Grand Prix here on Sunday, and he will hopefully go to Rotterdam next week, then jump on the Irish Nations Cup team in Falsterbo, Sweden," continued Kenny. 

Lennon, meanwhile, saluted "a horse for all seasons" after he delivered a stylish performance to win Friday's opening four-star class. Lennon, a winner at Bolesworth last year, steered Loughview Lou Lou (Limmerick x Jack Of Diamonds) home in the speed competition, clocking a time of 61.28 seconds.

Their performance proved alomst a second quicker than runner-up Lorenzo de Luca, with British challengers filling third and fourth spots through William Funnell and Jessica Mendoza.

"Lou Lou is a very versatile mare and a horse for all seasons," Lennon said. "She is very versatile, careful and loves to jump. We had a misunderstanding and a stop yesterday, but she wanted to win today, and after we got fence two out of the way I was happy to move on in the hope we could be in with a chance.”

Source: Press release from Bolesworth International // Picture © World of Showjumping