Just three months ago, Dougie Breen was picking up his ticket for the 128cm final at Horse of the Year Show – this weekend he won the 1.10m amateur championship at Hickstead.
Dougie took the title with Avalon Du Carpont, and came fourth with Hucalinde DV, beating a class full of adult riders in week one of the All England September Tour (27-31 August).
“It’s really cool because I’m only 12, to win in the main arena,” said Dougie, the son of Shane and Chloe Breen, who won from last draw. “I like going last because you know the time you’ve got to beat.”
Dougie had a super round, Breen Equestrian’s 15-year-old gelding showing his athleticism and scope to knock over half a second off the time set by Ella Bostwick and Innovate HBF.
“I went a bit too wide with my first one; my dad said ‘If you want to win, you can’t go like that, you’ve got to be tighter and look where the fences are’,” said Dougie. “So I knew I had to go super-tight with ‘Alfie’. He’s so smooth and I love his canter, you can just sit there, then when you come to the fence, it’s really good.”
Chloe said Dougie had also qualified for the same final at the Royal International, in which he had a “bit of a navigational error” and finished sixth.
“So he was pretty determined,” she said. “It was a nice back-to-school treat for him.”
The Breens are based at Hickstead but Chloe and Shane said this can increase the pressure when the jumping is in the main ring and all eyes are watching.
“I’m delighted for him,” Shane said. “It’s a bit like me when I try to win the Derby; when you live here, your goal is always to win in that main arena.
“With Dougie’s first one, I said he was wide in two places and I said to do exactly the same round but cut those corners a bit and you’ll make the time, and that was it. Dougie’s so laid back, he’s horizontal; he’s got a good temperament for it!”
Shane added that the horses are both fantastic and give Dougie the confidence he needs to progress, and paid tribute to his son’s ability to ride them and the ponies.
“I don’t think I rode horses when I was 12!” he said. And asked if Dougie might be emulating his father with a Derby win in a few years, he said: “Absolutely. And maybe a Nations Cup – but which country will he jump for?”
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