Ireland’s Darragh Kenny “Goes Clean for the Green” at 2016 Winter Equestrian Festival

Ireland's Darragh Kenny pocketed a $3,000 bonus in the SSG Gloves “Go Clean for the Green” promotion following his victory in the $35,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round XI held Thursday, March 24, at the 12-week Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in Wellington, FL.

The luck of the Irish has proven true for Kenny and Red Star d'Argent.  The pair already had two grand prix victories to their credit before entering the International Arena for Thursday’s WEF Challenge Cup Round XI where a total of 17 horse-rider combinations from the 65-horse starting field advanced to the jump-off over the course set by Olaf Petersen, Jr. of Germany.  Wearing SSG 'Digital' style riding gloves, Kenny and Red Star d'Argent, an 11-year-old Selle Français stallion owned by Oakland Ventures and Sergio Alvarez Moya, turned in a blistering time of 37.52 seconds to take the win by a fraction of a second over Kent Farrington, who stopped the clock in 37.53 seconds riding Creedance.

For wearing SSG ‘Digitals’ on his way to victory, Kenny collected a $3,000 bonus in the ever-popular SSG Gloves “Go Clean for the Green” promotion.

“I won a WEF and the SSG Gloves bonus four or five years ago when I worked for Missy [Clark] and John [Brennan], but I haven't really done much the last few years here in the bigger classes because I've been trying to produce horses,” explained Kenny.  “I didn't have a pair of the gloves for ages and I bought some before this class.  That worked out really well!  They are a very comfortable glove.”

As for how he plans to spend his bonus money, Kenny said, “I'm going to put it in my bank account and try and save it.”

While Kenny only recently got the ride on Red Star d'Argent, the end goal is to sell the stallion.  According to Kenny, the SSG Gloves bonus may play a role in that process.

“At the end of the day with this horse, the prize money is what keeps him showing, and having a little extra is great,” he said.  “It's great for the riders to get a bonus like this and to have a sponsor like SSG Gloves do that for these classes.  It's another little bit that really helps.”

The SSG Gloves “Go Clean for the Green” promotion offers $60,000 in bonus money to riders throughout the 12-week WEF competition running January 13 through April 3, 2016, in Wellington, FL.  A $3,000 bonus is offered each week to the winner of the WEF Challenge Cup if they are wearing SSG ‘Digital’ style riding gloves with the horsehead logo clearly visible in all rounds of competition.  In the weekly Maybach – Icons of Luxury High Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic and the Sleepy P High Junior Jumper Classic competitions, a $1,000 bonus is on offer if the winning rider is wearing SSG ‘Digital’ style riding gloves with the SSG Gloves horse head logo clearly visible in all rounds of competition.

SSG ‘Digital’ Riding Gloves are available for purchase at numerous Wellington locations, including Tackeria, as well as on-site at the Winter Equestrian Festival show grounds at various retailers such as Running Fox.

Please refer to the 2016 Winter Equestrian Festival Prize List for complete promotion details. For further information, please contact Jennifer Ward, Jump Media, at cell: 613-292-5439 or jward@jumpmediallc.com.