Irish rider Darragh Kenny has been on amazing form in the last 2 months. Today at Dublin Horse Show he added a 7th victory with Picolo. In the Irish Sports Council Classic (1.50m) there were 54 starters but only 14 made it to the jump off, just the right amount for Alan Wades challenging jump-off track. The first round included a related distance to a challenging triple combination that caught out many riders. The last fence also caused some heartbreak for those wanting to advance to the jump off, as it was a wide Oxer on a curving line. In the jump-off it was Swedish rider Henrik von Eckermann that really laid down the gauntlet for the other riders. He and the mare For Sale 6 set a blistering time of 36.40 seconds, and for awhile it looked as though he might take the win until British rider Ben Maher steered Aristo Z to the finish with a time of 36.12. It now seemed that Ben would not be caught but the last rider in, Darragh Kenny, had other ideas. Kenny shaved almost a second off of Bens time with a lightening quick 35.22 seconds and he was helped all the way by a cheering home crowd. When it was announced that Darragh Kenny had won the class the cheers and whooping could be heard all around Dublin.
