TIPPERARY’S TREVOR BREEN and the one-eyed Adventure de Kannan took the prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Cup at the Royal International Horse Show in Hickstead yesterday, repeating the success his brother Shane had in the 2013 competition.
It is the second high-profile success in as many months for Breen and ‘Addy’ – who overcame the loss of an eye to continue competing at the highest echelons of the show-jumping world – after the pair won the famous Hickstead Derby at the same venue in June.
While the €5,000 first prize pales in comparison to the almost €50,000 Breen picked up in the Derby, it is just the second time the two events have been won by the same pair in the same season and came in the most dramatic of circumstances. With six of the 25 entrants making the jump-off, Robert Whitaker and USA Today set a seemingly unbeatable pace of 43.25.
However, Breen and ‘Addy’ edged the British Nations Cup rider into second by just five-hundreths of a second to claim the competition.
Hickstead represents a good hunting ground for the pair who have also been victorious in the British Speed Derby (2009), the Eventing Grand Prix (2012), the All England Grand Prix (2012) and now the Queen Elizabeth II Cup.
It is a record that no other horse has come close to matching at the famous venue.
Indeed, the only one of Hickstead’s premier classes that the pair has yet to win is the Longines King George V Gold Cup, which the pair have only been able to compete in once, when they were part of Ireland’s FEI Nations Cup team in 2013 (they finished 12th).
But now it’s an ambition for the 2015 season:
“If he does manage to win the King’s Cup, that would just be the final piece of the puzzle. Hopefully we’ll be back for the King’s next year.”
