When Pat Kehoe bought a mare called Ardenhue Diamond Cruiser (ISH) way back in 2006, he could only dream of reaching the dizzy heights of becoming a World Champion breeder.

An excellent competition mare in her own right, she jumped as a young horse and won the five-year-old championship at Cavan in 2008, as well as finishing fourth at the Dublin Horse Show at the age of six in 2009.

A prolific broodmare, Ardenhue Diamond Cruiser (ISH) is the dam of the international showjumpers ABC Quantum Cruise (ISH) by OBOS Quality 004 (OLD), ABC Private Jet (ISH) by Je t’Aime Flamenco (BWP), and ABC Caruso (ISH) by VDL Cardento (HOLST).

Now, however, Pat can proudly call himself a World Championship Breeder, having bred the winner of the FEI WBFSH Show Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses at Lanaken last month.

In the six-year-old division, it was Ireland’s Ethen Ahearne and Ardenhue Diamond Cruiser’s daughter ABC Saving Grace (ISH) - a mare by Kannan (KWPN) - who were foot perfect all week, holding off France’s Valentin Pacaud to take the gold medal.

A massive 270 combinations entered the six-year-old competition at the start of the week, with the top 40 making it through to the final. Fourteen combinations went forward to the jump-off, with Ahearne and ABC Saving Grace - the sole Irish representatives - winning with a brilliant clear in 36.74.

Kehoe said: “This really is the stuff of dreams. It’s an unbelievable achievement but it’s great to have bred a World Champion. When you start out breeding you just want to breed a good one but you don’t really ever think you’ll breed a Lanaken winner.

“It’s all part of a long-term plan that started back in 2006 when I bought the dam, Ardenhue Diamond Cruiser (ISH) and I’m so lucky to have a mare like her. When I got home, I had to give her a big hug and tell her she bred a World Champion. 

“The icing on the cake is that I still own her, and I still own her mother. And I have her daughter as well – I took embryos off her when she was a four-year-old through the Horse Sport Ireland Embryo Scheme.

“I actually bought her off the side of a hill just around the corner from the house. She was a super little mare in her own right and I’m delighted for her too.

“It’s very hard to describe the feeling. As a breeder, this is my Olympics! I must also say how nice it was to be there and specially to see the Irish team pull together to support Ethen before he went in the jump off. It was a fantastic example of team camaraderie. 

“I’m still buzzing. I really can’t describe how proud I am of Ethen and ABC Saving Grace.”

It was the culmination of a long season for rider Ahearne and the mare, who competed in the Horse Sport Ireland Studbook Series through the summer and also at the Dublin Horse Show.

The delighted Tipperary man was admitted it felt a bit surreal to win his first World Championship, but knew from early in the week that he was in contention for honours.   

“We had had a busy season – I had built her up through the Horse Sport Ireland competitions and then at Dublin, where thankfully she had qualified at the first time of asking,” Ahearne said.

“It was actually difficult to get her back to peak again for Lanaken, keep her fresh and well, but she has a really big heart and is a real trier when she gets into the ring. And on the day, she rose to the occasion, in fairness to her.

“It’s surreal to think we’re World Champions, to be honest. Very nice, but surreal. I’m also delighted for Pat, her breeder too. It can be a long old road for a breeder.

“He had her mother jumping but it can be a long time before you can get a result like this as a breeder so I’m very happy for him.

“I must also thank all my team at home for putting in the hard work so that I can come somewhere like here to compete, as well as Horse Sport Ireland, and all the Irish who were out here and helped me as we got towards the jump-off in the final.”

It was a double success for Ireland as Kilkenny’s Ger O’Neill and the Irish Sport Horse BP Goodfellas (ISH), bred by Kevin Babington and Greg Broderick’s Ballypatrick Stables, were crowned World Champions in the five-year-old final.

The result completed an incredible hat-trick of World Championship wins for O’Neill, who won the six-year-old World title with the Irish Sport Horse Killossery Kaiden in 2016 and was World Champion again in 2017 with the Irish Sport Horse Columbcille Gipsy.

Having come through two intense qualifying rounds earlier this week that attracted over 240 starters, the top 47 combinations took their place in the final to see who would be crowned World Champions.

18 horses and riders jumped clear in the first round to make it into the jump-off, with two of those for Ireland. Third-last to go against the clock, O’Neill and BP Goodfellas stormed into the lead with a stunning clear round in 40.12 seconds and take the championship.

Three-time World Championship winner O’Neill said: “It’s fantastic, I was a winner at Lanaken in 2016 with a six-year-old and back again in 2017.

“It’s very nice to come back and win it again. It’s a great feeling at a World Championship, it’s unbelievable to win it. Huge thanks to Greg and Cheryl Broderick and to Kevin Babington who own and bred the horse, and everyone out here giving me a hand, it’s really a team effort from Ireland here which is huge, and to win on an Irish horse is also fantastic.”

BREEDING:

BP Goodfellas (ISH) 2017, G by Stakkato Gold (HANN) out of Goodwin’s Loyalty (ISH) by OBOS Quality 004 (OLD). Bred by GBBS Ltd and Kevin Babbington. Owned by GBBS International Ltd. Ridden by Gerard O’Neill.

ABC Saving Grace (ISH) 2016, F by Kannan (KWPN) out of Ardenhue Diamond Cruiser (ISH)[TIH] by Cruising (ISH)[TIH] bred by Patrick Kehoe. Owned by Patrick Kehoe. Ridden by Ethen Ahearne.