BRILLIANT performances by both the Junior and Young Rider eventing teams at the FEI European Championships at Maarsbergen, The Netherlands, saw them finish just off the podium in fourth place.
The Junior team of Chloe Fagan (Versace Biscuit), Jennifer Kuehnle (Polly Blue Eyes), Katherine O’Hare (Miracle) and Lilly Keogh (Master Tredstep), managed by Dag Albert, were first up and a score of 105.9 meant they were just off the podium in fourth place of the 14 teams who started.
Germany were run away victors with team tally of just 87.0 while Great Britain took team silver on a score of 97.2 and France claimed team bronze with 99.7.
Individually, there was heartbreak for Lilly Keogh who was forced to withdraw the 17-year-old Kings Master gelding Master Tredstep (ISH), a former four-star (new five-star) campaigner for her father Aidan, before the final show jumping phase. Keogh was lying in fourth place at that stage after a flawless cross-country run.
Fagan then led the Irish individually aboard Sarah Riley’s 15-year-old ISH gelding Versace Biscuit, who was competing at his third European Championships but first with Fagan in the saddle. The pair were 10th after dressage on a score of 30.8 and added two time penalties across the country to slip to 12th place.
However, a foot-perfect round over the coloured poles on the final day saw them rise to seventh place on a final score of 32.8. Kuehnle also produced a clear show jumping round with Clemens and Dagmar Hayessen’s Polly Blue eyes to slot into 15th place (35.5), ahead of O’Hare in 18th (37.6) and individual rider Sam Carey (Blessington Kamikaze) completed in 26th place (45.4).
It was a runaway win for Germany’s Anna Lena Schaaf and the aptly-named mare Fairytale. The 17-year-old rider threw down the gauntlet with the leading dressage score of 24.1 and stood firm to add nothing more.
Britain’s Leilia Paske took the silver medal with Billy McFee. The combination moved up from sixth after dressage to fifth after cross-country, and when third and fourth-place contenders were out of the equation, a clear show jumping round secured silver. Germany’s domination continued when Ann-Catrin Bierlein took third on the podium with Auf Geht’s Fraeulein Hummel (29.3).
Young riders
Sue Shortt’s young rider team of Ella Boyle (Catriona), Luke Coen (Stroke of Genius), Anna Kelly (Something Special) and Christine O’Donnell (Blessington Prince Royal), also finished in fourth place overall on a score of 214.6. Britain took gold on 111.0, ahead of France in silver on 114.1, while The Netherlands finished with the bronze medal on 171.1.
The highest place individual was Anna Kelly with Rachel Kelly’s 10-year-old mare Something Special in 11th place. The combination rose an incredible 43 places to 10th after cross-country and four faults over the coloured poles left them on a score of 44.4.
Germany’s Emma Brüssau rose from third spot after the first phase to the top step of the podium when adding nothing to her mark of 25.3. The British duo of Isabelle Upton with Cola (25.9) and Heidi Coy with Royal Fury (32.6) took silver and bronze.