A Dream Performance From Kenny

The Irishman lands Friday’s feature class with a strong lead, while jockeys battle it out for bragging rights

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IRELAND’S Darragh Kenny gave a flash of the firepower in his armoury when his nine-year-old Classic Dream shot into the lead in Friday’s 1.55m jump-off class, the Longines Christmas cracker.

It was the chestnut gelding’s second laudable five-star performance on British soil this year, having finished third to Ben Maher’s Explosion W in the London Global Champions Tour Grand Prix.

“I am very, very pleased with the way he jumped today, he is still quite green but in the jump-off he was exceptional,” Darragh said.

“I’ve known since he was seven years old that he was going to be a top horse, and I’ve always had Tokyo 2020 in mind for him,” he added. “I am very lucky that I have two other good horses and all three of them will be aimed at the Olympics next year.”

Course designer Alan Wade’s first-round jumped smoothly, but with a strong emphasis on the clock — eight riders progressed to the jump-off but four missed out when they picked up a time-fault.