THE FEI WBFSH eventing world breeding championship for young horses is taking place this week at Le Lion d’Angers in western France, where all 45 starters in the six-year-old championship were judged in the dressage phase on Friday morning.

The lead in this CCI2*-L is held by The Netherlands’ Patrick Verbakel riding the Dutch Warmblood gelding Passoa (28 penalties), a dark bay son of VDL Liamant W who, having had a cross-country stop at Kronenberg in June on the first of four CCI2*-S outings, has finished third twice and ninth on his other start.

While the number of Irish Sport Horses competing across the two championships is down on previous years, one of these, WLS Ravenscourt is currently lying second on 29.4 under New Zealand’s Caroline Powell.

This eye-catching bay gelding by Cristo was bred by Gwen Kinsella out of her Sorento mare Ebony AS, whose KMS Rooney van de Veldbaile-sired daughter WLS Cula Bula won the five-year-old Dubarry Burghley five-year-old young event horse final last month, while her gelded son by Castlefield Kingston was third in his four-year-old final. Both were also ridden by Powell.

WLS Ravenscourt has just had two previous international starts, both in August, qualifying at Cornbury before having a disappointing stop across the country at Ballindenisk.

Lying third after the flat work phase is Germany’s Ann-Catrin Bierlein riding the Westphalian mare ACSI Daisy Dynamite (29.4), a Diacontinus grey who finished fourth, on her dressage scores, on both of her CCI2*-S starts at Arville in July and at Langenhagen in September.

The best of the three Irish combinations heading into today’s (Saturday) cross-country action is Ian Cassells with Bridget and Camilla Speirs’ home-bred ISH gelding BT Just Special (by I’m Special de Muze), who are lying 13th on 32.7. Sarah Ennis follows in 27th place on the ISH mare Lady Sky M (35.5), with Elizabeth Power in 42nd on Belline Kilbunny Virtue (39.2), another ISH mare.

The six-year-olds will be first out on the cross-country phase this morning at 10am local time. As usual, the course is designed by Pierre Michelet, who is being assisted this year by Jean Pierre Cosneau.

As we went to press, the seven-year-old dressage competition was continuing. A full report from the event will appear in next week’s edition.