Dublin, Ireland – The U.S. show jumpers dominated the final day of the Royal Dublin Horse Show by picking up three wins. Highlighted by Lauren Hough’s major score in the Longines International Grand Prix of Ireland with Quick Study, the U.S. rebounded from a fifth place FEI Nation’s Cup finish on Friday with a trifecta of success. Hough dominated the star-studded field of 40, and she was one of only two riders to jump two clear rounds. Her second round time was three seconds faster than French rider Michel Robert, who ended up second on Kellemoi De Pepit.
“It was a difficult course today there were only two clear in the first round,” said Hough. “My horse felt great in the first round and that gave me confidence. I had a good feeling about it and I had the advantage of going last in the jump-off. My horse is naturally a fast horse; Michel went clear (in the jump-off) but went conservatively. I didn’t have to push too much because he is such a fast horse, so I just I just went medium.”
Quick Study, a 12-year-old Selle Francais gelding owned by Laura and Meredith Mateo, returned from an inconsistent Nations Cup performance on Friday to take his first CSIO5* Grand Prix win.
“He wants to do the right thing,” said Hough about her World Equestrian Games veteran. “I didn’t let him on Friday (in the Nations Cup) – he was in such good form in Florida, then I got over here and it’s been a little up and down; he hasn’t had any major mistakes, they’ve been more my mistakes. He’s a great horse and he did everything right tonight.”
Hough’s teammate Beezie Madden ended up ninth in the Grand Prix on Cortes ‘C’.
Madden scored her own victory earlier in the day – this time with Prima. She flew to the win in the Speed Championship with Nepolitan Holding Co. LLC’s mare by more than three seconds over France’s Roger Yves Bost and the Irish-owned Castle Forbes Vivaldo Van Het Costervelo.
Laura Kraut picked up the third U.S. win of the day, cruising to the win in the International 7 & 8-year-old Championship with Woodstock O. The Freedom Group & Joan Kalman’s Woodstock O jumped two immaculate rounds and the pair was more than a second faster than Madden, who was runner-up on Zhivago for Abigail Wexner. The pair of U.S. 8-year-olds put on an impressive display in the showcase of young horses.
Kraut also won two classes earlier in the week on Dona Evita. She kicked off Ireland’s most prestigious horse show with a victory in the The Failte Stake with the Evita Group’s 8-year-old mare, they then scored in a tough Power & Speed class, beating Irish rider Denis Lynch by just over 1/10th of a second. Madden and Cortes ‘C’ were third. Hough also scored an early week victory on Blue Angel in the Irish Sports Council Classic over Robert and Kellemoi De Pepit and 53 other starters, 18 of which jumped first round clears.
More information and a list of results are available here: http://www.longinestiming.com/sports/equestrian/racearchives/dublin2011/index.htm.
The final stop of the 2011 FEI Nations Cup series will be at CSIO5* Rotterdam, The Netherlands, August 24-28, 2011.
Complete FEI Nations Cup Series information is available at www.FEI.org.