World rankings reflect meteoric rise for Jad Dana

SUNDAY GRAND PRIX PREVIEW!

Jad Dana returns to WEF this year after a meteoric rise through the world rankings. “My world ranking is much higher now at 118,” the 29-year-old rider from Lebanon said.  “I was probably in the thousands last year.” 

Ranked 2309 in the FEI list this time last year, Jad’s  rapid success has come on the back of his mentoring from Leslie Howard, who invited him to join her as a working student in 2020.  “I was doing the barn,” he recalled.  “I took horses to the ring. I was grooming for her, but at the same time she used to give me at least three lessons a day whether it was flatting or jumping. Then she offered me the position to run the barn and things started kicking off for me.” 

Jad competes in Sunday’s $75,000 Grand Prix on two relatively new horses in ABC Quantum Cruise, a 15-year-old bay gelding Irish Sport Horse and Itchcock Des Dames, a 10-year old bay gelding Belgian Warmblood, both partnering at WEF with Jad for the first time this year.

“Hopefully I can win on one of them,” he said. Jad’s odds are good, given he is the only rider with two horses in the running on Sunday. But competition will be tough . McLain Ward brings the diminutive speed merchant and adrenaline junkie, Catoki to the contest – a 15.2hh Westphalian who is fun to watch. 

Darragh Kenny and Eddy Blue, who came a close third in this week’s WEF Challenge, will be looking to better that result while Todd Minikus and Kiekeboe Spirit, winners of the class have a chance to make it a double victory in WEF Premiere week. According to Todd he picked the horse out last summer because: “he jumped a lot of clears.” The 9-year old Dutch Sport Horse gelding was an unexpected choice for Todd. “He’s not really my type of horse,” he said. “He’s more of a 1970s type if you will but he’s got a lot of blood and he’s careful so don’t judge the book by the cover.”