RICHARD and Georgina Sheane went their separate ways on Saturday when it would appear that, in spite of leaving Cooley Farm for Finvoy at 4.30am, Richard had the less exhausting day as Georgina ran herself ragged looking after their children at the Irish Pony Club Festival in Barnadown.

Representing the Wicklow Branch, Ellie and Arthur were placed in the Under 10s’ lead rein mounted games competition – the better the result the more running that has to be done – while the trio of Cooley riders who went north were also well-pleased with their day, especially Katie O’Sullivan who won and finished second in the three-runner EI115 (Open).

O’Sullivan led throughout on J’Taime Cooley, whose completion score of 33.4 included 1.6 cross-country time penalties, while she picked up four time penalties over the fixed fences with Cooley Now Or Never who also jumped a double clear for a three-phase total of 36.7.

“Neither of the horses were ready to be competitive at Camphire which is why we came here,” said the rider. “It’s a long way from Glenealy but it’s motorway nearly all the way up. It was well worth the trip as it was a very good event. The organisers had made a great effort to get things right, everything ran on time and the horses are now ready to go to Millstreet.”

There were seven starters in the EI115 where Joseph Murphy came out best with Ryan Hopper’s ALS Russian Rolex with whom, on his dressage score, he had finished 13th of 69 in the CCI2*-S at Ballindenisk at the end of June.

As in the Open division, where Murphy finished third with Karina SL, no one made the time across the country, the winner’s total of 38.2 including 3.6 time penalties on the second leg. Sarah Gilkinson was faster in this phase with Lush Upgrade (2.8) but, due to a poorer dressage score, completed on 42.6. Cross-country time penalties and a pole down in the final show jumping phase proved costly for the flat phase winner, Lucy Hanna on Rock Babylon (46.1).

The winner, who Hooper competed himself earlier in the season and throughout the 2018 campaign, is a six-year-old bay son of the tri-coloured dressage stallion ALS Russian Monarch, an Irish Sport Horse by Glenhill Gold.