VISITING British jump judge Jennie Loriston-Clarke got to see Shannondale Icarus confirm his position as the top horse in the Shires Equestrian Products five-year-old section at Wexford Equestrian last Wednesday unlike his owner, Jinnie Webb, who was out of the country.

Winner of the league by an 11-point margin, the Louise Bloomer partnered bay dominated the final round of the series as he completed on a score of 232.5 points with his nearest rival, the mare Kilcandra Bonnie Reward, slotting into second on 216.5. Stellor Skipon, who was third in the league under Sarah Ennis, was next best on 205.5.

Shannondale Icarus won the dressage phase (56 points), was equal first (28) following Brian Lusk’s assessment of the suitability and type phase and then totally impressed the jump judges who awarded him a score of 148.5 which was some way higher than the next best, 135.5, which was achieved by Kilcandra Bonnie Reward.

That Financial Reward mare, who is produced by Luke Drea for owner Daphne Ladley, was bred in Co Wicklow by Vincent Cousins out of the Bonnie Prince mare Bonnie Dolly. A tall, leggy mare, she still has a lot of filling out to do but has an excellent attitude to the game already.

While Webb missed seeing Shannondale Icarus claim the five-year-old title, the rider’s mother Jane was there in support, as were the horse’s breeders, Mary and Michael Walsh who stand the gelding’s sire, Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan, at their Shannondale Stud in Co Clare. The league champion is a full-brother to the international three-star eventer Shannondale Mel being out of the Cavalier Royale mare Shannondale Melodie.

“Jinnie bought the horse at the 2015 Go For Gold Sale and he was backed for us by Peter O’Toole,” reported Louise Bloomer. “He was third in the league here last year, qualified for Dublin and was fifth in the four-year-old Masterclass at Camphire international.

“The plan is to qualify for Dublin again this year. His jumping marks in the final were super and he got a great score for his gallop. I love this league as they do things so well here.”

Tomorrow is a big day for Shannondale Icarus as he is among the entries for the Cooley Farms EI100 class for five and six-year-olds at Rosanna which looks like being highly competitive. Webb hopefully will get to see him go in the cross-country phase as she is due to fly into Dublin airport in the morning.

Ian Fearon was well-pleased with the standard of horse and production through the series.

“We have seen some quality event-type horses and some others who are very marketable. It was great to have the increased number and quality in the thoroughbred class as it’s good for event riders to see the ease with which these blood horses cover the ground and how well they move and how adaptable they are when properly produced.

“The new pony class was a great addition to the Stepping Stones series as this is something new for the sport. It does need to be tweaked however as it’s very difficult for young riders to compete against senior international riders.”

This point was agreed by the league’s organiser Orla Roche who puts a lot of energy into organising the series, as does her husband Pat Peare who assists Dereck Hamilton in building the tracks each week in the Derby Arena.

Roche has her children helping out when they can, while her mother not only supplies the lovely flowers for the indoor arena but also the delicious rhubarb tart which was on sale on Wednesday.