Irish Olympian Darragh Kenny and his European Championships mount Eddy Blue (Eldorado Van De Zeshoek TN x Chacco-Blue) had never won a grand prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) until this week. Under the shine of Saturday Night Lights at Wellington International during Week 9, the pair broke that maiden by storming to a win in the $500,000 CSI5* Grand Prix from a field that included six of the world’s top 10.
Clear rounds were not easy to come by over tracks set by Alan Wade (IRL), who has been tapped as the course designer for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. However, nine horses advanced to the tie-breaking jump-off, with riders representing five nations.
The jump-off pathfinder, Marilyn Little (USA) set the time to beat at 41.92 seconds aboard her own La Contessa, an 11-year-old Mecklenburg mare (License x Cornet’s Prinz). Six rounds later, Australian Thaisa Erwin and her Paris Olympic mount Hialita B (Emerald Van 't Ruytershof x Vaillant) matched Little’s footfalls in perfect unison to cross the final timers in a rarely seen dead heat aboard the 14-year-old Dutch-bred mare (Emerald x Vaillant) owned together with Michael Smith. Little and Erwin shared second-place honors on the podium.
Kenny returned as the penultimate challenger aboard Eddy Blue, a 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Eldorado vd Zeshoek TN X Chacco-Blue) owned by Carol A Sollak. He used the horse’s massive stride and quickness across the ground to stop the timers at an uncatchable 41.77 seconds.
“He’s been second and third here [at WEF] and placed in a lot of five-stars, but to finally win one here is really deserving for the horse—he’s an incredible athlete,” said Kenny, who won the FEI World Cup™ of London with Eddy Blue in 2024. “He tries so hard every time he goes in the ring, and I am really proud of him and how he competed tonight.”
Of his jump-off round, where he left a stride out in the first line, Kenny noted, “Eddy Blue is a very careful horse, so I can take a bit of risk with him. The relief of winning tonight was quite big.
“He’s a championship-type horse because he wants to leave the jumps up every day,” he continued about his long-term goal to be named to the Irish team for the FEI World Championship in Aachen in August.
Kenny’s groom, Shauna Murray, was presented with the Double H Farm Grooms Award and a $500 cash prize for her care and preparation of Eddy Blue.
ex aequo for Little and Erwin shine ...
The Bainbridge Companies Grand Prix was the first five-star grand prix podium finish for Little and La Contessa (License x Cornet's prinz), however, the pair has jumped clear in their last five five-star grands prix together.
“My goal for this season was to position Contessa as a real competitor at the five-star level and show what she can do,” said Little, who was most recently part of the winning U.S. Nations Cup squad in Wellington. “For her to come out and put in another performance like tonight against this group and a course designer with the technicality and the size that Alan Wade built is a big deal. “She doesn’t have the biggest stride, but she’s smarter than almost any horse I know. She’s probably smarter than most people that I know.
“I would have loved to have not gone first,” laughed Little. “When you’re going first with a group of riders like this, all you can do is the best you can do.”
Since 2010, an Australian rider has not finished on a five-star grand prix podium at WEF. Erwin changed that on Saturday with her tied second-place finish. “When I saw the time, I thought it must have been an error, but grateful that we could be here on the podium,” she said.
