March 8, 2026 
Darragh Kenny’s winter season started late and is already trending higher.
The Irish Olympian returned to competition February 13 following a provisional suspension in October for a positive drug test at the FEI European Championships that he attributes to a prescribed ADHD treatment. In the four weeks since, he’s jumped to nine top-three finishes, back-to-back Grand Prix podiums, and nearly $300k in prize earnings (Jumpr stats).
It’s just $1k less than what it took him to achieve in 12 weeks last winter season.
The proving ground of his return: the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL.
Kenny won the 5* WEF Challenge Cup on Week 7 with Eddy Blue. He finished second aboard Coibelle Hero Z in the CSIO4* WEF Challenge Cup and the Grand Prix on Week 8. On Saturday, he jumped one step on the podium higher, riding Eddy Blue to victory in the 5* Bainbridge Grand Prix of Week 9.
Did those extra weeks off at the beginning of the year help his performance?
“It looks like that now,” laughed Kenny.
“[Eddy Blue] feels in brilliant form. He’s fresh. He’s great. All my horses right now feel fresh and feel happy. So I’m just really happy they feel so good.
“He’s been second and third here [at WEF] and placed in a lot of five-stars, but to finally win one here is really deserving for the horse—he’s an incredible athlete. He tries so hard every time he goes in the ring, and I am really proud of him and how he competed.
“This has been a quite difficult time for me for the last six months, not being able to show, not being able to compete with my horses. It was something that was hard to deal with, hard to manage. To have them all feeling the way they’re feeling right now and jumping the way they are, the relief of winning was quite big.”
