WELLINGTON, Fla.--Ireland's Darragh Kenny on Chaccossini won the $32,000, CSI3* 1.50m Classic on Sunday, Jan. 12 for his second FEI victory in just his third show on this new mount.
Darragh Kenny on Chaccossini (Photo by Sportfot)“Straight away we clicked,” Kenny said about Chaccossinip, having taken over the ride from Martin Fuchs of Switzerland. “Our first show, we won a ranking show already, second show I took him to London, and he was clear in a 1.55m and won a big 1.50m class, and this is my third show with him. He’s a cool horse. He’s unbelievably fun and competitive. He also has this huge stride which makes him fast against the clock.”
Kenny was one of 10 clean over the course set by Nick Granat to make the jump-off.
“I knew the jump-off class was going to suit him because I could do two things that nobody else could do: from fences one to two we were all going to do the same number, but I could do five in that next line which nobody else could do,” Kenny said. “I think one other person maybe did six to the last, so that's where his stride is just so fast.”
Kenny finished clean in 32.16 seconds to win over Lillie Keenan on Opium JW van de Moerhoeve TN, clean in 33.57, while Charlotte Jacobson on Thomascourt Ballypatrick, clean in 34.32, was third..
SIX WERE clean in the jump-off, with Mark Bluman on Kenya RM fourth in 34.37, Tom Wachman on Do It Easy fifth in 34.75 and Doug Payne on Quintessence sixth in 38.18.
Kenny took a smaller string of horses to WEFl for the 2025 season, but the quality in the group has him setting big goals.
His sights are set on the CSI5* weeks and gaining the qualifying points he needs for the 2025 FEI World Cup Final in Basel, Switzerland, before hopefully taking one of his top horses, Eddy Blue, to the European Championships in the summer.
With a few extra moments in his schedule this winter, Kenny plans to devote his time to his roster of clients, among them top young riders Mimi Gochman and Elena Haas.
“My clients want to build up and get more experience at the higher level which I think they’ll be able to do this winter,” he said. “It’s a good winter for us because I’m not as busy so I get to spend more time with them. We have a great team of staff and trainers and I think it should be a good winter for us.”
Kenny knows the level of competition will only rise from an already competitive week one.
“It’s always very, very competitive,” he said. “Everybody gets a little more motivated every year. I think they all come out week one really motivated. All these 1.50m classes are extremely competitive with a lot of good riders and a lot of good horses. That’s the way it’s going to be every week. Everybody was trying today, and I was just happy it was a good day for me.”