The West Cork bred eventing superstar Fenyas Elegance and her unassuming breeder PJ Hegarty have been garnering lots of headlines and newspaper space over the last 12 months. And deservedly so too. Her latest appearance was on the eventing team, at the World Equestrian Games in Normandy, that qualified us for the Rio 2016 Olympics. After an initially disappointing score in the dressage she went on, with her Kildare born rider Aoife Clark, to finish 21st of 92 competitors after the showjumping final in D’Ornano Stadium in Caen.
But that does not tell the whole story of WEG 2014. Having spread a plate in racing terms or lost a shoe to the uninitiated just moments before entering the dressage arena down in Haras Du Pin (French National Stud) the officials would not allow a new shoe to be fitted as time slots are very tightly adhered to. So consummate professional Aoife Clark went in with Ellie to do her test rather than miss her slot and leave the Irish team fielding only 3 riders for the rest of the competition.
There must have been a little disappointment with her marks but no one was despondent. After all there was still cross country the next day, Sarah Ennis was in a very good position after dressage, and ground conditions were said to favour the Irish and British teams. The ground for spectators can only be described as going to a point to point in the middle of winter – mud,mud everywhere. Time was going to be tight as fences were huge and although only riders and connections had traversed the actual course the horses would jump on, making it less muddy than the infield for the spectators, conditions were still soft underfoot and would be softer for those coming later on as Fenyas Elegance was.
Every time a French horse was announced as starting the crowd erupted. Fenyas Elegance and Aoife started well and had a super round on the mares first 4* event to come home clear although outside the time slightly. There were a lot of horses eliminated or retired and everyone received time penalties so to have 5 out of the 6 Irish riders (including all 4 of the team) complete XC was a super achievement in itself. PJ’s superstar managed to climb nearly 50 places to go into the showjumping phase in 24th position.
After passing the trot up down in Haras du Pin on Sunday morning it was time for all horses to be loaded on lorries and given a police escort up to Caen for the showjumping final in the afternoon. Camilla Speirs (riding as an individual) on her diminutive Portersize Just A Jif, Sam Watson on homebred Horseware Bushman and Aoife Clark on Ellie were best of the Irish coming in to the competition just outside the top 20.
Just before Ellie came into the ring, the French had erupted as one of their local heros had just had a very good clear round. The noise in the stadium was enough to upset any horse but Aoife kept the mare calm and gave her time to settle before starting her showjumping round. An unfortunate one fence down meant adding 4 faults but still enabled this West Cork owned and bred mare to climb 3 places to slot into eventual 21st and be the best of the Irish.
Fenyas Elegance has now earned herself a well deserved holiday in the good clean West Cork air. There is no doubt we will be seeing plenty more of this mare in the years to come. I am sure the chequebooks will be out and offers made to entice this mare to jump for other nations. Whatever happens it was yet another example of the good horses that are coming out of West Cork.
Some previous newspaper reports on Fenyas Elegance
Southern Star April 2014
BY LEO McMAHON
WEST Cork-owned and bred ten-year-old Fenyas Elegance is officially the eventing number one Irish sport horse mare in the world rankings and the top Irish-owned eventer for 2013.
The remarkable mare, which made three-day eventing history by being the first Irish winner of the prestigious Blenheim Palace CCI 3-Star International in September, is owned and bred by PJ Hegarty, Gaggin, Bandon, and was ridden by Aoife Clark from Kildare, who is based near Oxford where the horse is trained.
At the recent West Cork Horse Breeders (WCHB) annual general meeting, chairman Dan Caverley recognised the massive achievement of Fenyas Elegance and the benefit it can bring in promoting West Cork horses and congratulated Leap-born PJ, a horse breeder for the past 20 years.
Her historic win has also been recognised by Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney; Jim Beecher of Horse Sport Ireland; Fran O’Neill of Munster Eventing; Irish Field/Gain Feeds; and in London with a presentation from the Event Horse Owners’ Association.
At Blenheim, said PJ, there were 84 starters from 13 countries all over the world. Fenyas Elegance, then aged nine, was second after dressage on day one. Day two, cross-country was a very demanding ten minutes running over a 6.5-kilometre circuit near the palace with around 40 fences, a grass bank, water jumps and other testing obstacles in which the horse excelled and took the lead by a mere 1.5 points.
Day three was show jumping with over 60 left in the competition and the Irish-bred mare was the last to go as jumping was in reverse order.
‘The tension,’ said PJ, ‘was intense because the two horses preceding Fenyas Elegance jumped clear and were only one and a half points behind her, which meant there was absolutely no room for error, but she did it to the delight of our family, Nick Turner, Eventing Ireland chef d’equipe, and many of Aoife’s supporters looking on anxiously.’
‘It was fantastic,’ PJ added, ‘to have Amhran na bhFiann played with Churchill’s birthplace as a backdrop. Churchill himself was a frequent visitor to West Cork, as he had relatives in Innishannon.
In 12 top-class events in 2013, Fenyas Elegance was in the top ten in all, and had only one pole down all season! She was placed in the British Open Championship at Gatcombe Park, Gloucestershire, winning the award for best young horse, which was presented by Princess Anne with whom PJ had a good chat and found her to be very friendly and engaging.
A great all-rounder, Fenyas Elegance was both All-Ireland and WCHB champion foal in 2004, was the national future event horse champion as a four year old at Tattersalls, and progressed on to be Champion Hunter Mare at the RDS Dublin Horse Show in 2008.
She represented Ireland in the world seven year old championship in Lion D’Angers, France and was Eventing Ireland champion mare in 2012, based on competitions all over the country.
Fenyas Elegance is now a ten-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare by Ricardo Z (ZANG) out of Fenya (ISH), by Good Thyne (USA).
Renowned mare Fenya, which PJ also bred, made history in being the first filly to win the Cork County Yearling Championship at Carbery Show, Skibbereen in 1997. She went on to win both All-Ireland and RDS championships and also show jumped to Grade B all over West Cork including Green Glens, Millstreet; West Cork Equine Centre and Innishannon.
‘Three-day eventing is a very tough discipline, comprising dressage, cross-country and show jumping, requiring different traits such as athleticism, temperament, bravery, style, class, heart, soundness, obedience, and jumping ability,’ he stated.
Dressage was often the Achilles heel for Irish competitors but Fenyas Elegance, being previously a show champion mare, always had a great step, being bred for both performance and looks.
‘Uniquely combining high performance with top quality gives the ultimate result from a sound breeding programme and this unique horse has just that,’ said PJ, a former chairman of Bandon Summer Show and secretary of WCHB, who is married to Una (O’Mahony, Castlehaven). They have a daughter, Aoife, and two sons, PJ and Micheal.
Back in Gaggin, it’s a full-on family enterprise with six horses and, to date, no sponsors despite costly overheads such as insurance, veterinary, farrier, livery, transport and accommodation all over Ireland, the UK and France. Sponsorship, of course, would be most welcome, said PJ, an agricultural advisor with Southern Milling in Cork and part-time farmer with pedigree Belgian Blue and Limousin cattle.
Looking to the future, Fenya’s Elegance will be competing in UK (including Badminton Four-Star Horse Trials in May) and hopefully, the World Equestrian Games in Normandy in August and selection for Ireland at other international competitions.
Indeed, she got the 2014 season off to a great start when Aoife Clark rode her to victory in an open class event at Isleham, Cambridgeshire earlier last month. All going well, it’s hoped this remarkable mare will represent Ireland at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016 and after that enter another new chapter as a brood mare to continue the great success story that is West Cork horse breeding
Bandon Opinion (August 2014)
BY TRICIA TYSON - BANDON BRED HORSE IS WORLD CLASS EVENTER
‘It’s choice, not chance, that makes a champion horse.’ So says PJ Hegarty, Bandon-based breeder and owner of Fenyas Elegance, the 10 year old chestnut mare that has taken the eventing world by storm. Despite their No 1 spot in the current world rankings, PJ is quick to assure The Opinion that this was no overnight success: ‘Horse breeding is a very long term project. It can be 10 or 12 years before a horse reaches its full potential so it’s an unpredictable business, but if you want to be a successful breeder you need to start with the right stock.’ PJ knew early on that Fenyas Elegance, or Ellie as she is affectionately known, was a special horse. ‘I bought her grandmother, Ferryboat Lady, and she became a premier mare with the Horse Board. From her I bred Fenya who was an exceptional showing and sports horse, winning everything from foal championships to All Irelands and the Champion Hunter Mare titles at the RDS. Ricardo Z, currently the leading sire in the eventing world, was the ideal match for her. It is very unusual for both the ‘mammy’ and the ‘daddy’ to be alive when a horse like Ellie becomes successful but Fenya is still with us on the farm in Gaggin and has given us three more foals of great potential, so it shows the importance of the bloodline. Ellie has been a winner and a champion from a foal. We always had high expectations and we’ve not been disappointed.’ Like her mother, Ellie won countless awards including Top Filly at Millstreet, Champion Hunter Mare at the RDS, and Eventing Ireland Champion Mare in 2012. As a 4 and 5 year old, she was a winner during the winters, ridden locally by Wayne Santry and in both these years hunted with the Carbery Hunt at the Gaggin meeting ridden by PJ himself. She was also Hunter Trialled by the Copithorne girls those years. This was excellent schooling and a foundation for an eventer. But 2013 was to prove a stellar year on the international circuit. With Olympian Aoife Clark on board, Fenyas Elegance put down her marker with a second place at Chatsworth International in May last year. At the British Open Championships at Gatcombe Park in August, the pair took 8th place and accepted an award for Best Young Horse from Queen Elizabeth’s daughter, Princess Anne, a renowned horsewoman herself and owner of Gatcombe. But the best was yet to come. In September 2013 Ellie and Aoife Clark became the first Irish pair to win the prestigious CCI 3* International eventing competition at Blenheim Palace, beating 84 top horses, from 13 countries including the US, Europe, Japan and New Zealand. It was the biggest win for any Irish horse since 1969. In March of this year they were back on the winners’ podium at Isleham and in June, with PJ proudly looking on, they won another CCI 3* International at Bramham Horse trials in Yorkshire. A clear round in the nail-biting finish clinched a narrow victory, securing Aoife, Ellie and PJ a place in the history books and cementing their position as the top Irish three-day eventing team in the world rankings. PJ said, ‘It was absolutely unique and the first time an Irish horse has won two 3 star events. Aoife Clark is knocking some performances out of Ellie. They make a great team.’ PJ’s remarkable achievements have been lauded by Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney and leading equine bodies in Ireland and the UK, with the Hegarty family of PJ, his wife Una, daughter Aoife and sons PJ and Michael acknowledged as fine ambassadors for west Cork both at home and abroad. So what next for Ellie the Wonder Horse? Fenyas Elegance will represent Ireland at the World Equestrian Games in Normandy in August. With the Rio Olympics just two years away, PJ is cautiously optimistic: ‘You just have to take these things one day at a time and listen to the experts. Aoife Clark tells me that if Ellie keeps her present form, with a bit of luck she should be an Olympic contender. And if Aoife thinks it, that’s good enough for me.’
Fenyas Elegance is a remarkable horse an in PJ Hegarty she has an outstanding breeder and trainer. He spotted potential and nurtured it to world-beating standards without the financial backing enjoyed by many other successful yards. The sport of Eventing is very fair, you win when a good test is delivered in Dressage, the horse Show Jumps clear, and the Cross Country is Jumped without fault and closest to the allotted time. Eventing is a sport of enthusiastic competitors with a great social aspect with all involved.