RUNNING for the second time in as many weeks, Rosanna hosted another well supported event last Sunday. One of a diminishing number of Leinster fixtures, the Wilding family’s beautiful estate lends itself ideally to the sport, and its undulating parkland terrain has to be a course designer’s dream. The late Tommy Brennan had always visualised designing an event track at the venue, and through Luke Drea and his team, Brennan’s dreams have turned into reality. In the past 14 days, Drea had been hard at work, making significant changes to both the track and the infrastructure.

The more user-friendly site for the dressage was much appreciated, while this time around, the cross-country ran back across the river on the land towards the lorry park.

There was also quite a big change in the technicalities of the tracks, which in keeping with the progression of the season, had been beefed up in places. Drea had however, cleverly incorporated easier lines to some of the combinations, while a downhill, angled fence before the water had some strategically placed tape to guide horses on the correct line.

“It was certainly a strong one-star track – but you need tracks like this,” commented Sarah Ennis. “It was brilliant, and I loved the way he (Luke) had made this week’s track so different. It was a really good job, and great to have the challenges.”

Not for the first time at events this year, there were a glut of time penalties throughout the day. Although the tracks appeared to be tightly wheeled, the undulating terrain would certainly have contributed to the inconsistencies in pace.

There is great goodwill towards the event which has an enviable list of sponsors. The hugely experienced Gillian Kyle and husband Johnny are also very involved, and with so much land available for further development, its future looks encouraging.