Photo credits Jackie Olivier
Sunshine and smiles all around at the vet check this morning and Jonelle’s three horses looked bright and sparkly in the sunshine. Grappa Nera, (Grape), Senor Crocodillo (Diego) and Capitaine de Hus Z (Alvin) all bounded up the narrow jog strip obligingly and didnt have long to wait before they jumped. Rosie and Ruby had done a brilliant job and although Grape looked around in vain for some of the madding crowd she is so keen on performing in front of she still had her Princess mode very much activated.
With three to jump Jonelle was first in and jumped Alvin out of order over a decent and technical track which eventually saw just 6 clears out of the 20 that came forward to jump. Alvin just tipped the out of the treble late on for 4 faults which was good enough for eventual 12th spot. Grape caught the out of the double early on for 4 faults but redeemed herself by jumping clear through the treble and ended up in 5th which is a great result as its at the long format where Grape tends to shine the brightest. Although to be fair this was a short run as a long!
Diego didn’t have a rail in hand to lead overnight but he did when Sarah Ennis hit the in of the treble just before he went in. He didn’t need the buffer though and jumped a fabulous clear round to win the 4 star in style with a super ride from Jonelle on a finishing score of 39.5 leaving him 6.4 points clear. He last won a 4 star in Ireland at Mallow in 2023 in his first full season with Jonelle and he set out his table at Lignieres last autumn when he was third before his debut at 5 star at Pau with a top 10 finish. He is becoming quite the consistent performer and a welcome addition to the very top tier of Jonelle’s group.
Nothing to take away from Grape and Alvin either with both stepping up to deal with very safe dressage scoring and a tough day at the office yesterday. It will be be a happy trip back across the Irish Sea tonight and an easy week ahead for this trio whilst the crew sort the turnaround for departure for Royal Jump tomorrow night. Happy days!
Princess Grape looks in vain for the crowds at the jog.
Ruby and Rosie with the winner!
