Tara Dunne

THE 2015 TRM/Horseware Premier Series Grand Prix League got off to an exciting start with a battle between the Butler brothers for the opening leg at Louth County Show last weekend. Alexander Butler triumphed in the end with the nine-year-old stallion Hallowberry Cruz making an impressive Premier debut this season.

“The horse jumped great. I’m going to mind him a little bit now he’s relatively inexperienced and I definitely think he is going to go on to bigger things so we will build on this,” he commented.

Owned and bred by Caroline Byrne, Hallowberry Cruz is, as the name suggests, by Cruising. His dam, the Clover Hill-sired Calcutta Clover, competed in the amateur divisions with Byrne before embarking on a breeding career.

Byrne was on hand to watch the victory and the delighted owner said: “It was an unexpected win. It’s his first Premier Grand Prix and before the class I would have said if he just jumps well I’ll be delighted.”

Butler has been partnered with Hallowberry Cruz since last season taking over the ride from Ger O’Neill, who produced the stallion through the age classes. The pair had a number of standout results last season including placings in the National and Autumn Grand Prix League, as well as qualifying for the Seven and Eight-Year-Old international class at the Dublin Horse Show.

This season Butler has gained valuable experience for Hallowberry Cruz when travelling to Belgium and the pair have already featured at 1.50m level finishing fourth in a speed class at the three-star show in Lanaken last month.

Tom Holden set the challenge for the 38 starting combinations, which yielded 16 clears.

Butler, speaking about the course said: “I thought it was very fair. The ground was absolutely perfect and Tom probably could have gone a little harder on us because of it but it’s the first Premier [Grand Prix] and you have to see what the standard is like.”

Junior rider Susan Fitzpatrick played pathfinder and looked set to replicate her first round clear with Cavalino but a mistake at the penultimate oxer as well as lowering the last fence left her carrying a total of eight penalties in a time of 58.10.

Deane Rogan logged the first double clear of the class with the Toulon-sired Falco Van Spievald. Putting in a solid performance Rogan recorded a time of 54.04 which would see him finish just outside the top six.

Catherine Thornton immediately set a new benchmark with Derryinver Luxury Cruise crossing the line in a time of 53.16 with nothing to add. Thornton has shown great form this season with the 10-year-old Lux Z-sired stallion, finishing third overall in the HSI/Connolly’s Red Mills Spring Tour.

FAULTING EARLY

Lieutenant David Power was the next to take it on with Dollanstown but failed to threaten when faulting early in the round, completing with 11 faults in a time of 71.35.

Current National Grand Prix champion Vincent Byrne confirmed he had lost none of the form that saw him win a total of five Grand Prix last season when upping the ante for the remaining riders. Partnering the 10-year-old Heartbreaker stallion Hannibal V Overis Z, Byrne’s committed gallop to the last saw him come home with time to spare when the clock showed 49.98.

Peter Moloney took the wider lines with the French-bred mare Ribanbelle Tame to come home in 53.30. Moloney has produced the 10-year-old and featured last season on numerous occasions in the National and Munster Grand Prix leagues as well as stepping up to Premier level.

The next three riders; Rebecca McGoldrick (Fleur IV), Edward Doyle (Mullaghdrin Touch The Stars) and Frank Curran (New World) made decent attempts at the time home inside of 52 seconds but all picked up four faults at different points in the course.

Edward Butler had no such trouble with Cornet Son and looked determined to feature from the off with the Cornet Obolensky-sired stallion. Butler’s round ensured that once again the lead changed hands when the clock recorded a time of 49.51.

Butler’s lead didn’t stand for long, however, with younger brother Alexander as the first to challenge it. The only rider to make it double handed into the jump-off, Alexander made his first chance count with Hallowberry Cruz. Keeping his use of the arena to an absolute minimum, the Co Kildare-based rider made a bold decision on the final line which saw him come home with nearly three seconds in hand, stopping the clock at 46.83.

Alexander came close to securing a one-two victory with his second mount Vimminka logging a time of 48.24 but lowered the penultimate oxer for four faults. He was assured of the win however when the final three riders; Gerard Clarke (Rafiki), Dermot Lennon (Gelvins Touch) and Greg Broderick (Rincarina) not only failed to come within striking distance of the time but also finished on a tally of four faults.

Butler’s plans now include the upcoming international show at Balmoral, he has won the Grand Prix there twice consecutively while the overall plan for the season are the international classes in Dublin. Butler said: “Overall the plan is to get to Dublin so I need to be in the top three in the Premier Series to do that. I’ll stick with this league with that in mind and I’ll try to win it if I can.”

NATIONAL GRAND PRIX

The Spring Tour saw young riders come to the fore and Daren Hopkins ensured that the trend for young riders taking centre stage continued when triumphing in Saturday’s opening leg of the TRM/Horseware National Grand Prix League.

Partnering Mister Cruise, Hopkins snatched the victory in the 14-strong jump-off of the €4,000 class from long-time leader Daniel Coyle. The third last rider to take on the clocked round, Hopkins came home with the narrowest of margins, separated from Coyle by only four hundredths of a second when recording a time of 37.88.

The 18-year-old Co Mayo based rider commented: “My horse has a really big stride so he is naturally very quick. He is careful and good to turn so I said I’d go for the win.”

By Cruising, Mister Cruise is owned and bred by Hopkins grandfather Leo Carey and is out of the Clover Hill-sired dam Erics Clover. Hopkins has been paired with the 11-year-old gelding since 2012 and in that time has already featured with wins in the Spring Tour and the Connaught Grand Prix League.

Hopkins said: “My grandfather is a great supporter of show jumping through the years so it was great to get the win with a homebred horse. I will follow the league but my next show will be the young rider qualifiers. I hope to do a few legs of the Premier Series later in the year too.”

Hopkins offered praise to the support team behind him saying: “I’d really like to thank Tommy Gibbons who I train with and Darragh Kerins who I spent the winter in Florida with. The training I received from both of them has been really beneficial.”

Coyle, playing pathfinder in the jump-off, before being relegated to the runner-up position had set what looked to be an unbeatable time of 37.92 with the Guidam-sired Zuidam. Coyle, just back from Portugal, notched up some impressive results last season with John Carr’s 11-year-old stallion including a win in the international Grand Prix in Cavan in November.

Darryl Walker fresh off a win in the final of the Spring Tour with Cushions took the yellow rosette. Once again riding the nine-year-old Flex A Bill-sired mare, Walker ensured his place in the line-up with a clear round in a time of 38.05

The next two placings were filled by another two riders that have featured regularly in this year’s Spring Tour. Ger O’Neill was the faster of the two with Go For It breaking the beams in 38.27 while James Hogg and Interpreter came home just shy of this time in 38.51. Frank Curran filled out the top six with New World also double clear albeit in a slighter slower time of 40.17.