Irish Riders Rise to the Occasion for the Bolesworth Puissance
Irish rider Trevor Breen mastered Friday’s Equitop Myoplast Bolesworth Puissance riding Lord Luidam, to bring the third day of the Equerry Bolesworth International Horse Show to a close.
Seven horse and rider combinations came forward to face the ‘Famous Red Wall’ in the International Arena and the opening height of 1.75m along with commentary from no other than showjumping legend, Geoff Billington.
The first rider to exit was Georgie Crumley in Round two, after Renkum Rock & Roll refused to jump. It was Georgie’s first attempt at the wall on the Sally Strutton owned, dark bay gelding.
Irish contender Derek McCoppin was another to fall victim to the 1.90m wall leaving five competitors to go forward to the second Jump-Off. The new height of 2.00m proved to be the turning point in the competition; Harriet Nutall bowed out with Dulf, who brought the wall crashing down and an unlucky brick saw Jay Halim leave the competition with Derby at this stage.
With just two possible rounds remaining, the attention was turning onto favourite Chris Megahey with Seapatrick Cruise Cavalier. The Irish combination became firm crowd favourites when they won the Puissance at the Liverpool International Horse Show last December, clearing 2.10m having previously tied with Holly Smith to clear 2.15m the Puissance at the London International Horse Show last December.
As Nigel Coupe withdrew from the third Jump-Off, the battle for the Equitop Myoplast Puissance title became an all-Irish affair, and when both Breen and Megahey cleared 2.10m, the heat was on for the final round.
Breen was first to enter the Bolesworth amphitheatre where the 2.15m wall awaited. Meeting the wall on a perfect stride, the Buckinghamshire-based rider proved the eventual victor after Chris Megahey took a single brick out in the deciding round.
It was a spectacular first Bolesworth win for Breen, who came close in 2015 when he finished runner up in the Grand Prix. ‘Tonight I was riding Lord Luidam for Millie Mason who is tied up with exams at the moment’ said Trevor. ‘The Puissance wasn’t the original plan but I went in and he just seemed to get better and better!’
‘Bolesworth is going from strength to strength, year on year and all credit is owed to Nina and her organising team.’
Speaking after his Puissance win, Breen was looking forward to a busy weekend to come. ‘I was fourth today in the 1.50m Jump Off class today with a mare called Bombay and hopefully she can better that in the Grand Prix on Sunday.’
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.