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A SUPERIOR COMBINATION: DARRAGH KENNY AND HYPERION STUD
Team Hyperion’s successful showing and introduction to the world stage has been magnetic over the summer months at venues such as Hickstead, Chantilly, Dublin, and Ommen, where Darragh himself accumulated 7 wins including 10 double clear rounds with 6 horses. The performance of Hyperion stallions Imothep, Chin Quidam VDL and Dakota VDL compiled most of those clear rounds. Statistics like this prove why Darragh is the fastest rising rider among the world Top 100, and is currently ranked 50th.
After a successful showing in Aachen, Germany Team Hyperion unexpectedly was asked by Ireland’s Team Manager Robert Splaine to head to World Famous Hickstead Horse Show in England for the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup. This was then a week off for Chin Quidam, as Darragh paid special attention to putting himself and Imothep into a position to represent his country successfully. With a high level of focus and intensity, the pair laid down a double clear effort in the Nation’s Cup. Together they were only one of 5 horse/rider combinations who produced such a result in the 32 horse field. This outing played a significant role in Team Ireland finishing tied for 4th in The Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup on August 01, 2014.
During the week between Hickstead and Dublin, Kenny traveled to Chantilly, France, were his winning streak continued in grand fashion aboard both Dakota VDL and Darragh’s horse Picolo. Dakota carried 1st and 3rd placings in the 6 year old qualifiers and finishing out the week by winning the 6 year old Finale.
Once back on home turf in Dublin, Ireland, Darragh‘s week began with two wins on Chin Quidam VDL in the 7/8 yr old Connolly’s Red MILLS qualifiers as well as a win on Picolo in the 1.50m class. Prior to arriving in Dublin, despite having already named the Team for the Nation’s Cup, Team Manager Robert Splaine made the last minute decision to replace Bill Twomey with Darragh on his squad of 5 riders. It was only the day before the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup presented by Longines that Mr. Splaine named Darragh and Imothep to the 4 rider squad. After a single rail down in the first round, Imothep and Darragh took advantage of their leadoff position for Team Ireland, scoring a clear second round. With his fist pumping in the air and horse bucking across the finish line the crowd of over 20,000 erupted in cheers! It was an exciting moment for Darragh and the Irish fans! After this successful performance on Imothep, Darragh topped off his week with Chin Quidam VDL by finishing 2nd by less than 0.5 seconds, in the 7/8 year old Finale sponsored by Connolly’s Red MILLS.
Upon completion of the Dublin show, Robert Splaine made his team selections for the upcoming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France, from September 1-7, 2014.
The squad of five riders in alphabetical order is:
Bertram Allen with Ballywalter Farms’s Molly Malone V
Cameron Hanley with Eleonore Paschoud and Yves Bouvier’s Antello Z
Darragh Kenny with Hyperion Stud’s Imothep
Denis Lynch with Thomas Straumann’s All Star 5
Conor Swail with Ariel and Susan Grange’s Lansdowne
Ommen, Netherlands became the next winning territory for Chin Quidam VDL, where Darragh bested the 73 horse field, piloting Chin to a win in his very first 1.50m Grand Prix. The crowd had a lot of very proud people watching this win, including Chin’s breeder Wim van Nispen.
When asked for her reaction, Hyperion Stud Owner Vicky Castegren stated, “The World Equestrian Games is a monumental accomplishment for Team Hyperion. We have known for quite some time that Imothep has possessed the potential to compete at a level such as this, and with the series of events that has occurred over the past 6 months, we are left in a bit of a daze as to how quick our rise to the top levels of the sport has come. The education and training he earned since I purchased him as a 6 year old has paved the way to this point. I must thank everyone involved from riders to grooms, all support staff from Team Hyperion and my family. It takes a team to get here, and it’s going to take a strong team to move forward.
Additionally, I am constantly blown away at the frequency of success Chin Quidam VDL has been achieving. Chin looks to be one of the best 8 year old in the World at the moment. It’s astounding! Darragh seems to fit right in with everything we have in our stables, and we are proud to have such a strong athlete and quality person as Darragh on our team. There are many big things in our future that will help prove that Team Hyperion belongs on the world stage, for many years to come.”
The World Equestrian Games jumping phases begin on September 2, 2014.
Darren Mix
© Hyperion Stud Media
Darren Mix
Media Relations & Marketing Manager
