More Than Just Luck: Darragh Kenny

“It’s a dream to do the thing you love every single day,” says Darragh Kenny. “Every morning, when I get on my first horse and go out to the arena, I look around and I can’t believe how lucky I am.”

According to the 24-year-old rider, luck has a lot to do with how his career is playing out. And as he looks out the window of his wood paneled barn office at a picture perfect setting in the heart of Wellington, Florida, it’s with a slight sense of disbelief.

With piercing blue eyes and a slight rider’s build, Kenny is quintessentially Irish. He became a regular name on grand prix entry lists while working for Missy Clark’s North Run Farm over the past four years. But this fall, he stepped away from what had been an enormously successful run under Clark’s tutlage. It was a risky move for such a young rider, but so far, things are falling into place.

A Fortuitous Journey

In many ways, it all began at the Dublin Horse Show.

In 2007, Kenny was already one of Ireland’s top young riders. As such, he was invited to compete in a class against three of his peers, judged by two Americans in the main ring at Dublin. The prize for winning was a training bursary to the United States to work with a top American coach.

Kenny won the class, and spent the following winter working at Missy Clark and John Brennan’s North Run Farm in Wellington, FL (in the summers North Run is based in Warren, VT.) The year after that he returned for good.

Growing up in the literal center of Ireland, riding was all Kenny knew; his parents are both trainers and encouraged his riding from the start. At 10, he began competing ponies, and at 14, he rode in his first grand prix.

That background is not uncommon in a country where there are many young (and not so young), hopeful and hardworking riders trying to move abroad and make it. But few possess the right mix of talent and ethics to be able to distinguish themselves from the crowd the way that Kenny has.

Walking the course in New York, 2012

Success in the Saddle

Clark, a distinguished equitation trainer known for producing top riders and molding future professionals, took Kenny under her wing when he first arrived in the U.S. Early on, she promised him that if the right horse came along, she would try and do her best to get him to the biggest classes.

It’s rare for a promise like that to be kept, but Clark rewarded Kenny’s hard work by opening doors, and he enjoyed a steady rise up the grand prix ranks from 2010 to 2012. He qualified for and competed at the FEI Rolex World Cup Finals in 2010 with Obelix, represented Ireland in Nations Cup competitions that same year, and racked up top placings in prestigious grand prix classes up and down the East Coast, all while under the tutelage of Clark and aboard horses that she had found for him.

A light accent outlinines his sentences as Kenny explains the impact of Clark's influence. “She taught me a great work ethic, she made my riding style even better, and she helped me get a great name in this country. She made my career huge in a very short length of time. And that is something that I’ll never forget.”

This past summer, Kenny was constantly at the top of results standings with Sandor de La Pomme, another talented jumper that Clark found through her connections in Europe and gave to Kenny to ride. At Lake Placid this past July, he became just the 5th rider in history to sweep both grand prix classes during that circuit, eanring him the Richard and Diana Feldman Perpetual Challenge Trophy for Excellence. In August, he dominated at the Vermont Summer Festival. On the HITS Saugerties circuit in June and September, he kept on racking up clear rounds and wins.

Flying high with Zhum IV in the Wild Card Grand Prix at HITS Saugerties on September 7th; Kenny placed 4th

And then, he took a very big leap of faith.

Oakland Ventures, LLC

After much consideration, Kenny amicably parted ways with the North Run team in September to form Oakland Ventures, LLC.

“For me, North Run was like going to college; you do four years of college and you learn so much,” Kenny explains. “It was just time for me to try and do something on my own and make a go of it.”

It’s no small thing to establish oneself on the grand prix circuit, and Kenny knew that there was a very real possibility he’d have to sit on the sidelines for a few years while he built up his business. Sandor and the other grand prix horses that Kenny had been riding would stay behind if he left North Run.

“My career had been so great and to take the chance to lose all that was very hard,” Kenny emphasizes. “But I had an amazing summer, and it was the right time.”

Competing with Sandor de La Pomme at the 2012 Hampton Classic Horse Show

The Right Connections

Kenny spent the fall indoor circuit with Don Stewart, helping him with his equitation riders. Stewart proved to be a valuable connection; he sent Kenny two clients and together, Stewart and Kenny bought a nice 6-year-old together that’s now in Kenny’s barn.

A few owners also stepped up to send him horses, and his sponsors, who range from CWD to Triple Crown Blankets to Equifit, rallied behind him. Three months after starting Oakland Ventures (“I just made the name up, I liked the sound of it,” he says) he has 12 horses in the barn, a full staff and more to come.

Two of those horses are already competitive at top levels. On December 1, Kenny jumped clear in the World Cup Qualifier Grand Prix at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center with Any Given Sunday, a 9-year-old Oldenburg stallion owned by the Holloway family. His other top ride, is an 11 year old jumper called User ID that came to him from Juan Pablo Gnecco. He’s had both horses for just over a month, but that’s about all the time it took for him to connect with them and start making a plan going into the 2013 season.

“At the end of the day, I’m very very young, and I definitely realize I don’t know everything,” Kenny adds. “But I’ve an amazing team of people behind me, from other professionals to my staff. In this sport you can’t do it alone.

“I know (having a business) will be a challenge, but if you do it the right way you can manage to get a lot of places in this sport.”

Luck helps, but pure talent and good old-fashioned work ethic may have something to do with the measure of Kenny's success, too.