Margie McLoone

THERE was a large turn-out of horses at Wexford Equestrian on Wednesday for the third round of this year’s Stepping Stones to Success League when there were repeat successes for Ballykelly Notalot, Cooley Cosmopolitan Diamond and Finnegan’s Lake.

British event rider and coach J.P. Sheffield joined Stepping Stones regular Ian Fearon to judge the jumping phase of the two young event horse classes in the Derby arena where once again Dereck Hamilton’s track produced mainly clear rounds with just one elimination throughout the day.

Indoors, dressage judge Anne Marie Dunphy was able to get out at times to stretch her legs during a session which began just before 9am and ended nine and a half hours later. With Lar Sutton on duty at the stallion inspections in Cavan, the video camera for this TopSpec viewing day was manned by Denis Cadogan whose vantage point on the balcony of Pat and Orla Peare’s house proved chilly enough in spite of the sun.

Margaret Jeffares’s successful introduction to performance classes continued on Wednesday when her Ballykelly Notalot, who was runner-up a week earlier, won the Botanica International four-year-old class for the second time in the series. Partnered by Clare Lambert, the daughter of Lancelot ‘won’ the dressage phase on 53.5 points and also topped the jumping marks on 168 for a total of 221.5.

Daisy Duggan partnered her own Orestus gelding Kilcandra Orestus, who is out of an Hallodri mare, into second place on 217 while Jinnie Webb’s Shannondale Icarus (by Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan), a half-brother to Shannondale Mel among others, claimed third place on 215.5 under Heidi Hamilton.

Among those delighted to congratulate Jeffares on this latest win was Rebecca Monahan who had shown Ballykelly Notalot, without the prefix, to win the supreme youngstock championship at the RDS last August. This accolade followed three seasons of near invincibility in show rings around the country.

“I’m absolutely delighted for Margaret and her husband Des that the mare is going so well,” said Clare-based Monahan on Wednesday evening. “I was thrilled when I heard she was to be given a chance to prove herself under saddle as, since the time we bought her as a yearling, she was a real athletic-type.

“I never jumped her over a pole but, if you were leading her down the road, she’d jump over the white lines and was always inclined to jump into the ring, it’s like she was on springs. She was wonderful to own and I’ll never have her like again. I have two geldings to show this year, a two-year-old and a three-year-old, and if they are half as successful I will be doing well.

“I know Margaret will mind the mare like I did – she had a great life down here! It’s a new thing for Margaret and Des to have a performance horse like this and I wish them all the success they can have.”

Ballykelly Notalot was bred in Co Clare by James Wallace and is the eighth of 10 foals recorded on CapallOir out of the Cavalier Royale mare Cloneen Cavalier Countessa. The mare had colts in 2013 and 2014 by Ricardo Z and Future Trend respectively.

After a good weekend at the Belton international horse trials, Sarah Ennis was back on the road on Wednesday when her journey south paid off with first and second place finishes in the Shires Equestrian Products five-year-old class.

Showing the consistency of her mounts before different judges, Ennis won on Cooley Cosmopolitan Diamond (226.5), who topped the leaderboard in round one, and slotted into second with her winner of last week, Alice Kehoe’s home-bred Ramiro B gelding, Westwinds Navigator (220).

Cooley Cosmopolitan Diamond, who is owned by the rider’s husband Niki Potterton, was bred in Co Meath by veterinary surgeon Katy Murphy. The Canturo bay is out of the Master Imp mare BM Barbie Doll. This is the family of BLM Diamond Delux on whom Ennis finished 15 in the CIC*** at Belton.

The Batterstown rider is heading to Badminton next with that Olympic Lux gelding and now has to find a replacement rider for her horses at the Stepping Stones final on Tuesday, May 3rd.

“I’ll be heading over to Badminton on the Monday so can’t get to the final,” explained Ennis.

“While I’ll have no problem persuading Niki that I have to get another rider for his horse, I do have to talk to Alice and Barry before I can confirm what will happen with Navigator.”

As the Kehoes’ horse won the four-year-old final here last season, one images that they will be keen to repeat that success at their local Co Wexford venue.

Third in Wednesday’s class, and another to have performed well throughout the League, was Carol Gee’s Rousseau gelding Gebaliaretteo who achieved a score of 216 in the hands of Tracy Walshe.

HAT-TRICK

For the third week running, Ciara Power landed the Irish Horse Welfare Trust Thoroughbred Club class on her mother Miriam’s Finnegan’s Lake. The seven-year-old Zagreb gelding, who pulled up on his only start in a point-to-point, won by a considerable margin as he completed on 198.5 points while the second-placed Saywhatinao Bay, partnered by Felicity Ward, finished on 154.

The 11-year-old French-bred gelding Arvika Ligeonniere, who ran more times than the rest of his rivals combined, finished third under Louise Duffy (149). There were six starters in the class on Wednesday, double the number of previous weeks but still low. As most former racehorses are ridden by amateurs, taking part in mid-week competitions is not really an option.

The Stepping Stones League is heading north next Wednesday when the fourth leg will be staged at Lusk Equestrian outside Lisburn.