Dermott Lennon, hero of Ireland's gold medal team at last year's European championships, gave the home side the best possible start to the Kerrygold Horse Show yesterday afternoon when coming home ahead in the race for the Kerrygold Speed Stakes.
Lennon was once again teamed up with Woods Rosbotham's Ginger Watt, the 10-year-old that provided the horsepower for his victory in the Speed Grand Prix that closed the curtain on the British Nations Cup fixture at Hickstead less than a fortnight ago.
Drawn second last to go yesterday, the Co Down rider gave the Irish supporters something to cheer about as he steered the chestnut round the twisty track to slice over a second off the target set by French veteran Gilles Bertran de Balanda.
That was good enough to net the €2,000 winner's purse, but the congratulatory handshakes of his team-mates were a painful process for Lennon, who is still suffering after breaking a bone in his right hand at the Dutch show in Geesteren last month.
"Everybody shaking my hand is killing me," he said afterwards, but it was obviously a pain he was not too unhappy about and could certainly take more of over the next four days.
The horse came to Lennon just before Christmas last year, having been brought up through the grades by the owner's daughter, Lisa Rosbotham. After featuring in the line-up on all three days at the indoor fixture in Zurich, the new combination made their first breakthrough into the international winner's enclosure at Geesteren last month. The win at Hickstead followed soon afterwards and yesterday's Kerrygold success completed the hat-trick.
Lennon is hoping to repeat the winning formula in tomorrow's Kerrygold Nations Cup, when he joins forces with Peter Charles, Cian O'Connor and Kevin Babington in the Irish bid to regain the Aga Khan trophy. "We're going to give it our best shot," he said.
A Lennon double went out of the window when team horse Liscalgot faulted once in the first round of the €15,000 Kerrygold Classic, but de Balanda, thwarted by Lennon in the speed class, made sure of the bigger money on offer in the Classic.
De Balanda has fond memories of the RDS, having been a member of the winning French team at the 1982 world championships with the extravagant stallion Galoubet. Returning to the scene of his gold medal performance, the Frenchman came out on top once again, this time in a marathon 17-horse jump-off.
British rider William Funnell had set the initial target with the first clear in 53.37 seconds on the former Peter Charles ride, Amber du Montois, but that was rapidly toppled by the French challenger, who had Crocus Graverie home through the finish almost six seconds to the good.
Only compatriot Patrice Delaveau came anywhere close to slot into second with Frascator Mail, but Irish hopes - despite a top-heavy seven in the decider - evaporated against the clock. Kevin Babington and Carling King had the best of it for the hosts.