Reigning Derby champion Shane Breen logs first win of the week at home base Hickstead
Thursday 22 June 2023
 BootsandHoovesPhotography1bdu2p7bwq17n.jpg "Reigning Derby champion Shane Breen logs first win of the week at home base Hickstead")
He comes into this week’s Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting as the reigning champion, and Ireland’s Shane Breen got the show off to a great start with victory in the Hickstead Annual Grade C Championship, riding eight-year-old ABC Cortana Cruise.
“She’s a bit of a feisty one,” says Shane. “She’s by Cornet Obolensky and out of a Cruising mare, which is a nice, feisty combination.”
ABC Cortana Cruise is a new ride for Shane – he picked her up in December, after having spotted her with former rider and fellow Irish competitor Melanie Davis at last year’s Derby Meeting. She then went the way of Irish Olympian Greg Broderick, and when Shane flew home over Christmas for one of his off-season hunting trips, he jumped at the chance to sit on the young horse.
“I thought she was a super jumper with a bit of attitude,” he remembers. “I’m getting to know her – I haven’t done a lot of shows with her yet, so for now, it’s all about give and take, like any relationship, I think! But she’s super careful, and she’s scopey, so I think she’s going to be an amazing competition horse. It’s just down to me to adjust my way and point her around the course – she wants to jump the jumps, so I just have to let her jump them.”
Shane and ABC Cortana Cruise were the last of the 15 starters to go, and he also had Koh-I-Noor to ride in the same class, which meant that he could be tactical with his second ride. “I’d been in earlier and had been very unlucky with my first horse, who had a brick off the wall. But then I had a look at the times and I thought, ‘if I just do the round I have in my head, I can win it’. I think she’s going to be a super horse in the future. On paper, she’s bred to be fantastic, and I think she will be.”
It's a positive start to a big week for Shane, on whom all eyes will be focused as he tackles the Al Shira’aa Derby qualifying classes through the week with his reigning champion Can Ya Makan and the rising star Scarteen. But far from feeling the pressure of trying to defend his title, Shane says: “It feels great to be back, because at least I’ve won it now! It’s a different kind of pressure – at least, once you’ve done it, you know you can. When you live here and you walk around this great arena every day, you feel you need to win it – and now I’ve done it, it’s wonderful. Can Ya Makan is in amazing form, and I think I can win it again!”
The Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting takes place from 22-25 June at Hickstead in West Sussex. Tickets are available online or at the gate, and the action will also be shown live on Hickstead.TV and ClipMyHorse.TV.
Image: Boots and Hooves Photography
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