SHOW JUMPING:DARRAGH KERINS realised a long-standing dream at the RDS yesterday with his first international win at Dublin, more than 20 years since his father Francie competed in Ballsbridge.
“This is as good as it gets,” Sligo-born Kerins said, after trouncing no fewer than 22 rivals in a massive jump-off for the Irish Sports Council Classic. “To come back and win a class in Dublin is just a dream come true.”
Kerins left Ireland for his American base in Florida 15 years ago, but was called up for team service in this season’s inaugural Meydan FEI Nations Cup series on the European circuit by Irish manager Robert Splaine.
A double clear at the Swedish round in Falsterbo clinched victory for Ireland, but Kerins was overlooked for the Dublin team, only making the grade as reserve, and it hurt.
“I was disappointed for sure,” the quiet-spoken Kerins said diplomatically yesterday, “but I think Ireland still have a very strong team and I wish them all the best on Friday”. There was no hiding Kerins’s determination to prove the team manager wrong as he brought the diminutive Night Train in for the timed round yesterday afternoon, blazing a trail that left the opposition floundering. But with 15 still left to jump, the Kerins father and son couldn’t bear to watch and stayed outside, with their fingers crossed, waiting for the final result that announced Kerins as the winner.
It was the second Irish win of the day as Capt Shane Carey had earlier scooped the honours in the opening Fáilte Stakes. Carey was another man with a point to prove and he made it in brilliant style with a victory that made it abundantly clear that he is among a growing band of supporters that believe “An Bord Snip” should not be including the Army Equitation School among its proposed cutbacks.
Also standing firm in defence of the McKee Barracks flagship, RDS chief executive Michael Duffy voiced the society’s strong support for the equitation school. “The RDS support for the equitation school is a matter of record. The mission of the horse show is to support Irish horses and Irish breeders and the Army Equitation School does the same thing. It does a fantastic job, both at home and abroad and complements the objectives of the horse show. They are a very important part of the show and represent a great tradition. From our point of view they have done and continue to do a great job.”
Capt John Roche, a former member of the equitation school and now director of jumping at the International Equestrian Federation headquarters in Switzerland, is also unimpressed by the prospect of closure, “but I think reason will prevail”, he said at the RDS yesterday.
The equitation school wasn’t the only hot topic around the rings in Ballsbridge. There was also plenty of talk about the royal visit by Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, president of the International Equestrian Federation. Princess Haya will be making her first official outing at an equestrian event since her husband Sheikh Mohammed was handed down a six-month ban on July 31st after two positive dope tests on one of his endurance horses earlier in the year. The princess, who has campaigned to clean up equestrian sports’ doping and medication infringement problems, took no part in the disciplinary process.
The princess flew the flag for Jordan when she competed in the international events at the RDS in 1996 and 1997 while training with the late Paul Darragh at Waterside Stud in Co Meath. But this will be her first official visit to Dublin since she took over as federation president in 2006.
She will be presenting the trophy to the winners of the Meydan Nations Cup series after President Mary McAleese has awarded the Aga Khan cup.