Lennon hails ‘amazing’ Loughview Lou Lou after Olympia victory
In the Co Down rider’s hands, the nine-year-old mare has answered question after question, even as he upped the ante, and the former world champion said her performances to date were all the more impressive considering her relative inexperience.
“For me it was all about what the horse is ready to do and Loughview Lou Lou has done amazing things all year. She only came into work last Christmas when I got her and had been off the circuit for 18 months, having picked up an injury as a seven-year-old. She was out of shape, but at her first international show in Maubege, she won a 1.40m class.
“She was placed in a couple of classes in Aachen [Germany] and won the speed derby in Dublin. She then won her first 1.50m jump-off in Gijon, Spain, and in her first nations cup there, she had four faults in each round and one of these was a foot in the water, which was my fault. She also won two classes in Toronto and a ranking class in Geneva. Last Thursday she won the opening class in Olympia and now the grand prix.”
The Banbridge native was one of three Irishmen to contest Monday’s grand prix, with Billy Twomey unfortunate to exit on a single time fault on Tinka’s Serenade, while Cian O’Connor put up 13 faults with his new ride Blue Loyd. Eleven made the jump-off and Lennon, fifth to go, set a time that only Spain’s Manuel Anon (Rackel Chavannaise) came close to beating, stopping the clock a fifth of a second slower.
He cited O’Connor as being instrumental in his victory. “Cian was very helpful, he watched the first few riders go and he advised me to take one extra stride to the planks and to do one less to the last. We were the only ones to do that and it gave us the edge.”
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