Darragh Kenny rides Chinook II. PHOTO BY BARRE DUKES/PHELPS MEDIA GROUP
Darragh Kenny Back In Wellington After A Show-Stopping European Tour
Peak Performance BY BARRE DUKES
Twelve consecutive weeks spent in the same community may not seem very permanent to some, but for Ireland’s highest-ranked show jumping athlete Darragh Kenny, it’s just about the closest thing he has to home. The time Kenny spends competing in Wellington at the Winter Equestrian Festival, the Palm Beach Masters series and the Wellington Turf Tour could be considered the calm before the storm that is his peripatetic lifestyle as a professional athlete. Following the 2019 WEF circuit, Kenny spent the remainder of his year trav-
eling to a new city nearly every single weekend while climbing his way up the world rankings. Kenny highlighted his most successful year to date by accomplishing his personal milestone of breaking into the world’s top 10 in October and concluded the year as the No. 8-ranked athlete on the Longines FEI world ranking list. In 2019, Kenny amassed an astounding résumé of top results across the globe. With Balou du Reventon, owned by Ann Thompson, he earned two prestigious 5* Grand Prix wins in the summer, which include the LGCT Grand
Prix of Shanghai and the €500,000 Rolex Grand Prix in Knokke Hippique. The pair also produced two clear rounds in the 2019 Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final in Barcelona to earn team gold and the coveted final Olympic qualification slot for the Irish show jumping team in October, before going on to finish in second place in the LGCT Super Grand Prix at the Prague Playoffs in November. Thompson’s Romeo 88 saw top results with Kenny through 2019, highlighted by second-place finishes in both the Longines FEI Jumping World wellington the magazine | february 2020
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