AS with dressage and show jumping, Horse Sport Ireland sponsored an autumn development series in eventing which covered one-day events, arena eventing and young event horse classes. However, there was no league and final in this discipline with each event being run as a standalone competition.

The series got under way, as scheduled, on September 19th at Knockany where Steven Smith won the EI110 for six- and seven-year-olds on Terry Johnston’s 2013 Cruising Harry gelding Fredie Fox (31.8 penalties). For good measure, the Gilford rider was second with the year-younger Ringfort Cruise gelding Mike Of Mourne on whom he competed in the CCI2*-L at Le Lion d’Angers in October.

Colin Halliday made more Eventing Ireland appearances this year than he had since 2017 and he won for the first time since August 2016 when landing the EI100 for five-year-olds here on the Leanne Marshall-bred Van Gogh mare GHS Calexico. The EI90 for four-year-olds was won by Suzanne Hagan with the Cobra gelding Loughview Commander.

Three days later the series moved down to Scarteen where, during their Try Eventing day, there were HSI-sponsored classes for four and five-year-olds. The latter was won by Elizabeth Power with the tall S Creevagh Ferro gelding Breaffy Mandela while, riding for staunch supporters Tom and Carol Henry, Michael Ryan landed the four-year-old class on My Bright Spark, a Quantino mare bred by Myles Somers.

It was back to eventing proper at Punchestown the following month when the series competitions were held over the two sessions of the split one-day.

On the Saturday, one of three higher-graded wins for Joseph Murphy came in the HSI EI110 on Annette O’Callaghan’s highly-regarded Derroon Diplomat, a seven-year-old Ricardo Z gelding with whom Murphy had previously finished third in the CCI3*-S at Ballindenisk.

The sponsor’s EI100 class went the way of the above-mentioned pairing of Power and Breaffy Mandela. This winner was bred in Co Mayo by Anne Hussey out of the Ghareeb mare Kilbeg Kitty. The bay gelding was to conclude his two-run season with a win in the unrestricted EI100 at Hillcrest (3).

A second victory in the development series was also recorded on the Sunday in the EI90 class by the Hagan-owned and ridden Loughview Commander who was bred in Co Antrim by Judith Sossick out of the Limmerick mare Loughview La La, a full-sister of Loughview Lou-Lou (CSIO5*).

For the next leg of the series it was back up north for arena eventing at The Meadows. Here, the AE110 was won, on her eventing debut, by the Hannah Blakely-partnered Lougherne Bellissima, a six-year-old Viscount mare who was imported into Ireland as a foal by Lougherne Stud.

A feature of the latter part of the 2020 Eventing Ireland season was the successful link-up between the Kuehnle family’s Tullibards Stud and the Co Meath-based operation McNally Eventing whose Amanda Goldsbury won two of the HSI-sponsored classes at The Meadows for the Kuehnles.

The New Zealand international landed the AE100 on the Thomas Vaughan-bred Connemara Ilane Commotion, a dun stallion by Ardgaineen Rebel, and the AE90 with Tullibards Benny And Jess, a home-bred gelding by Tullibards Bennys Legacy.

Unfortunately, the final two legs of the series, arena eventing at Barnadown (October 25th) and Wexford Equestrian (November 1st), were cancelled following the introduction of nationwide Covid-19 Level 5 restrictions on October 21st. However, it was recently announced that these have been re-scheduled and will take place at the same Co Wexford venues in February.