Darragh Kenny piloted Amsterdam 27 to clinch victory and take the top spot on an all-Irish podium in the $385,000 Fidelity Investments Grand Prix CSI5* during the first of four five-star “Saturday Night Lights” weeks at Wellington International’s 13-week Winter Equestrian Festival. The win ended a nearly two-year drought of five-star grand prix victories for the Irish Olympian.
Clear rounds were hard to come by early in the evening as French course designer Gregory Bodo, who has been tapped as the builder for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this summer, tested the riders.
Leading the way from the third position in the original order, Ireland’s Jordan Coyle cracked the code, then five more riders would follow on clears, including the likes of U.S. Olympic team silver medalist Kent Farrington, up-and-coming U.S. talent Natalie Dean, fellow Irishmen Cian O’Connor and Kenny, and Belgian Olympian Nicola Philippaerts.
In the end, the Irish flag flew high for Kenny and Amsterdam 27, a 14-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Catoki—Soraya VI, Acord II) he owns together with Vlock Show Stables, LLC.
They stopped the clock at 38.66 seconds hoping it was enough to hold off Farrington and Greya as the last to go. A rail fell for the U.S. rider and left the victory to Kenny.
“It’s a great result for all the Irish riders,” said Kenny, 36. “I think we work very hard when we’re here, and we try very hard to win always. Tonight really showed that we can do it when we need to.”
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Watch their winning jump-off round, courtesy of ShowGroundsLive.com:
An injury sidelined Amsterdam 27 for a full year, but the horse is back and better than ever.
“The vets didn’t really think he’d make it back, but he came back to this level now and he’s doing it better,” Kenny said of the former Pan American Games mount of Canada’s Mario Delauriers and Olympic mount of Kenny’s student and owner Teddy Vlock.
Kenny, who also was awarded the Martha Jolicoeur Leading International Rider Award after finishing third in Thursday’s grand prix qualifier aboard Eddy Blue, represented Ireland in the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo and feels that Amsterdam 27 is the horse to give him a berth to this year’s games in Paris. His plan is to use WEF as that springboard.
“He’s an absolutely incredible horse; he’s the most talented animal I’ve ever sat on,” he said. “He’s quality, scopey, smart and has the ability to win anything. I just have to stay out of his way and let him do his thing.”
