Trevor Breen has won the Equestrian.com Derby with his one-eyed wonder horse Adventure De Kannan.
Head-to-head
Trevor had four faults in the first round after Addy knocked a rail down in the Devil’s Dyke. No one jumped a clear round so Trevor then had to go head-to-head in a jump-off against last year’s winners Phillip Miller and Caritiar Z, who were theonly other four-faulters.
Phillip was first to go in the jump-off and the pair set off at a decent pace, but incurred four faults at the Devil’s Dyke.
Addy also had a pole at the privet hedge oxer, which meant Trevor had to put his foot down. Incredibly the Irish rider crossed the finishing line just 0.02seconds faster than Phillip to win the class – the closest Hickstead Derby jump-off in its 54-year history.
Trojan horse
“The horse just loves adversity,” said Trevor, who won the HicksteadSpeed Derby with Addy in 2009 and the Amlin Plus Eventing Grand Prix in 2012. “Last year he lost his eye, then he came back. This year he tweaked his hind suspensory, came back again. Then to top it all off I was exercising him in the sand arena here yesterday and he got kicked in the leg. He’s just a Trojan of a horse.”
This win has been a long-time coming for Buckingshire-based rider, who came third in 2012 and second in 2013, behind Phillip. Trevor was left devastated last year, as he hoped to win the Boomerang Trophy in memory of his mum, who had died a week earlier.
This made his victory in 2014 all the sweeter – and very emotional.
“Addy has an enormous heart, he does whatever you ask him to do,” he said.
Disappointed
It was Phillip’s turn to settle for second place. While he was disappointed not to repeat his 2013 win, he congratulated Trevor on his win.
“I thought I was quite quick, so then it was up to Trevor whether he was going to surrender or come after me,” he said. “I thought he’d surrendered then all of a sudden he set off.”
Three riders shared third place on eight faults – Jade Hooke (RSA) and young British riders Harriet Nuttall and William Whitaker. Trevor Breen was also sixth on Loughnatousa WB, who had two down and one time fault.