SIX senior Irish riders contested the Grand Prix at Hickstead’s CDI3* last Saturday, and of them, two more completed their qualifications for the 2026 FEI World Championships while two achieved podium placings. Olympian Abi Lyle and Alex Baker now join Jess Dunn and James Connor as riders who have filled the Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MERs) for the Aachen championships, while Sorrell Klatzko won the Grand Prix Freestyle.

“I’m very pleased that Abi and Alex have comfortably completed their MERs,” said Anne Marie Dunphy, Horse Sport Ireland’s dressage high performance manager. “Abi’s placing in the Grand Prix Special and Sorrell’s win in the Freestyle are clear indicators of the rising standard we are seeing among our riders, and Kevin, Sorrell and Carolyn came close to achieving their MERs too.”

As she did at Hartpury in March, Lyle led the Irish challenge in the Grand Prix, finishing fifth with her own and Caroline Clarry’s Giraldo on a score of 67.826%. Baker scored 66.826% to finish eighth with Elite Stallions’ Top Gear, while Kevin Acres, Sorrell Klatzko and Carolyn Mellor were only fractions away from meeting the MER standard when they scored between 65.5% and the necessary 66% to finish 12th, 13th and 14th respectively of the 25 combinations in the class.

Lyle demonstrated her consistency to finish third in Sunday’s Grand Prix Special, this time on a score of 69.191% behind the multi-medalled British riders Fiona Bigwood on Donna Bella and Charlotte Dujardin on Braveheart. Klatzko chose to progress to the Freestyle with her own and Janine Shoffner’s 13-year-old Turbo, and excellent execution of her complex floor plan saw her win the class on 72.750%. Mellor also finished fifth for Ireland in this class with Gouverneur M on 67.970%.

“The win was a special day for me,” said Klatzko afterwards. “It just felt like the stars aligned. He warmed up beautifully, there was a great atmosphere and that electricity really woke Turbo and myself up. As I was doing my last zigzag line of passage and piaffe, I realised we hadn’t made any mistakes and we might be in with a chance of a placing. Then I halted, and even that felt good, and I got a little bit emotional because I had never had such a good feeling in the ring. When the results came out, we were really excited; a good score and a great result.”

The aforementioned combinations were not the only Irish representatives throughout the week at Hickstead, and U25 rider Lily Kelly also achieved notable placings. Riding Vino 34, she finished third in both the Inter II and the Grand Prix as part of the CDI U25, while with Newton Tiger, a mare first produced to the World Young Horse Championships by Alex Baker, Kelly finished sixth in Saturday’s Premier League Prix St Georges. Tara Hayes picked up 10th in the CDI1* Inter I riding Ferrero K, and Millie Cosgrove was sixth in the Children on Horses classes.

Abi Lyle was in the money in the Premier League classes too, riding Fenella Quinn’s Neverland MFS. In Friday’s advanced, Lyle and the eight-year-old by Glock’s Dream Boy topped the leaderboard on 68.906%, well ahead of runners-up Zoe Sleigh and De Novo, who scored 67.031%. This combination were also fifth in Thursday’s advanced medium on 70.147%, a class which was won by Charlotte Dujardin and her rising star Secret Agent on a massive 80.833%.