Athlone's Derwin triumphs in Oslo
Athlone's Francis Derwin achieved another hugely impressive victory on the international stage at the weekend.
He guided the 11-year-old mare Parvati AEG to victory in last Saturday's 1m45 Agria Trophy at Oslo's five-star World Cup show in Norway.
Francis posted a winning time of 36.71 seconds in a nine-horse jump-off to finish ahead of French runner-up Kevin Staut.
In Oslo, where the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup’s Western European League opened, Derwin and Mark McAuley chased home Koen Vereecke (BEL) and Merryweather Vt Leeuwerikenhof in last Friday’s 1.50m class against the clock.
The winning clear in 62.50 was just three-tenths of a second faster than what Derwin and the Knightfield Stud-bred Irish Sport Horse he owns himself, Flexi K recorded.
McAuley, with L’arc En Ciel Z (Yannick Jorand) continued their consistency of recent weeks right on Derwin’s coattails, stopping the timers in 62.97.
On Saturday, Derwin went one step better as he joined forces with his own 11-year-old mare Parvati AEG to swoop in the Agria Trophy as the last pairing in and leave an elite field gasping with a statement victory.
Kevin Staut (FRA) held the lead in the 1.45m jump-off class, with a second clear round of 38.22, just one hundredth of a second quicker than the marquee pairing of Henrick von Eckermann (SWE) and Glamour Girl. Thibeu Spits (BEL) and Marcus Ehning (GER) were just behind them after eight of the nine combos had returned.
In the end, Parvati and her Athlone pilot produced a round that left absolutely no doubt, clear in 36.71.
“I’m very happy with how the two horses are jumping,” Derwin told Horse Sport Ireland afterwards.
“Flexi was very good in the Grand Prix qualifier. I was really happy with him and it was good to be second.
“Parvati was very good in the 1.45 jump-off class. I was really happy with her. It was a quick enough jump-off. I was last to go so it was good to be able to know what I had to do and it was great to win,” Derwin added.
Overall, it was another fantastic week for Irish show jumping concluded with five-star victories for Derwin, Conor Swail, Ciaran Nallon and Daniel Coyle, while Denis Lynch, Mikey Pender and Bertram Allen provided four clear rounds between them to propel their team New York Empire to the top spot in the Rome leg of the Longines Global Champions League.
Belmont native Darragh Kenny, Andrew Hodgins and David Simpson posted three-star successes and Swail added to his tally with a two-star success as the scintillating run of form by Irish riders continued.