CATHAL Daniels was by far the busiest of the country’s event riders this year, commencing the season at Tyrrella (1) on March 23rd and ending his campaign at Le Lion d’Angers last month. From 152 entries, he accumulated 610 points to be crowned Eventing Ireland’s leading rider for the second year running.

The 23-year-old earned a lot of points with Jo Breheny’s home-bred Limmerick mare LEB Lias Jewel on whom he won the CCIU253*-L at Tattersalls (30 points), the CCI4*-S at Kilguilkey (32), the EI120 national championship (30), also at Kilguilkey, and on whom he was eighth in the CCI4*-L at Blenheim (40).

Then, of course, there was the season’s leading horse, Mags Kinsella’s home-bred mare Rioghan Rua with whom Daniels won the CCIU254*-L at Bramham (110 points), was sixth with in the CCI4*-S (Event Rider Masters) at Chatsworth (17) and on whom he won individual bronze at the European championships in Luhmühlen.

That result in Germany, which brought the sport, and Daniels, back to the attention of the general public, was the high point of the rider’s season but there was a low to follow last month in The Netherlands.

“The low point of my season had to be when falling foul of the missed flag rule while competing in the Nations’ Cup at Boekelo,” said the Co Galway native. “I thought I had jumped all the fences correctly and only had a few time faults on OLS King Aragon but we were later eliminated. However, I could still present him for the final horse inspection and show jump him as the event was run under the new Olympic format.”

The eight-year-old Samgemjee gelding OLS King Aragon is home-bred by Kieran Connors and Michelle Nelson at whose Orchard Lodge Stud in Calverstown, Co Kildare Cathal is based and, from where, he runs his business, CDS Sport Horses.

Connors and Nelson also own the six-year-old Luidam mare OLS Queen Bee, on whom Daniels won the CCI2*-L at the autumn international in Ballindenisk (20 points), and the 11-year-old OBOS Quality 004 gelding Dartans Quality Brigade who Daniels competed on the national Grand Prix show jumping circuit in the spring.

Tokyo goal

Cathal, who is the leading Irish rider in the FEI rankings and the leading rider under the age of 25, is back show jumping for the winter and, at present is also competing on the indoor eventing circuit, riding a recent addition to his string, Sarah Hughes’s 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Alcatraz.

The combination won at Stuttgart earlier this month and the rider is planning to compete at Paris, Geneva, Liverpool and Bordeaux. His outdoor eventing season will begin again at Barroca d’Alva in late February next year.

Daniels, who is a recipient of an Olympic solidarity bursary, is very much focussed on competing at the Tokyo Games next year. As the only Irish rider to have won medals at each level of the sport – ponies, juniors, young riders and seniors – he would very much like to fill his collection with an Olympic one.

“I don’t want to go there just to say I’m an OIympian, it’s about the result,” he concluded.

Sarah Ennis and Sam Watson, who were on the silver medal-winning team with Daniels in Tryon last September and also competed alongside him at the European championships this year, finished second and third on the top 10 riders’ list with 402 and 375 points respectively.