Single clear sees Miller take Hickstead Derby

Britain’s Phillip Miller, riding Caritiar Z, provided the only clear in the Hickstead Derby yesterday to deny Ireland its second successive win in the famed competition, as four faults left Tipperary’s Trevor Breen equal second on the one-eyed Adventure De Kannan.

Breen’s performance saw him go one better than last year’s joint-third with Karen Swann’s bay gelding and he had no hard feelings in losing out to Miller.

“I’m genuinely happy for Phil, he is a great friend of mine,” he said. “But I came here to win, not to make up the numbers.

“Addy has been on unbelievable form this year, then he had the trauma of the eye operation [he had his eye removed]. This is only his third show since then, so to come back like this is incredible. I can’t ask anymore of him. To win would have been a fairytale, but it wasn’t to be. There always seems to be one fence catching me. It’s been a tough week for me,” he said, referring to the death of his mother Mary Breen the previous week.

Breen shared second place with three-times winner William Funnell — filling the runners-up position for the second year in a row — with the 15-year-old Irish sport horse Dorada.

Fourth place went to another Irish sport horse, Rolo Tomasi, ridden by Ireland’s David Simpson, with eight faults, while fifth place went to Briton Michael Lonsdale, who notched up nine faults with Loughnatousa WB, the chestnut gelding ridden to victory last year by Waterford’s Paul Beecher.

Saturday’s Led Sport Europe Speed Derby proved a rout for the Irish, who filled the top four places, with national hunt jockey Robert Power leading the charge on his debut in the competition.

The son of legendary show jumper Captain Con Power won with the 12-year-old Irish sport horse stallion Doonaveeragh O One, the horse of his eventing sister Liz Power.

Grand National winner Robert — who prior to racing lifted a silver medal as a show jumper at the European Young Rider Championships — had just 0.15 seconds to spare over runner-up, locally-based David Simpson, on the eight-year-old Arantos. Gerard Clarke made it into third spot on the Cruising gelding Kellswater Crimson, despite picking up a four-second penalty when lowering an early fence, while Alexander Butler and the Irish sport horse No More Talk finished fault-free to place fourth.

“My sister evented ‘Tommy’ up to three-star level but he was injured and switched to show jumping,” said Robert. “He’s got a very big stride, and because he’s done a lot of eventing, he’s not bothered by the unusual fences, so I can kick on at them.”

Lining out in Gowran Park yesterday, he was emphatic when asked if he had any plans to quit racing: “Definitely not! I’ll be racing for a good few years yet, hopefully, but I’ve been show jumping during the summer. I’m very competitive and love to win — so it doesn’t matter whether it’s racing or show jumping here on the big stage at Hickstead.”

Earlier, Shane Breen was second in the Bunn Leisure Trophy, riding the Dutch warmblood Zarnita

At the four-star show in Fontainebleau, France, 17-year-old Bertram Allen continued to taste success, this time with Molly Malone, as he overcame 59 rivals in a 1.45m jump-off class.

On the domestic circuit, Peter Smyth (Victoria Rose) won the TRM/Horseware Premier Series grand prix in Cavan, while Joan Greene provided the only other double clears, with Biscaya D’Eversem and Diamonds for Douglas, to finish second and third, respectively.