JUST nine qualifying places available in the seven and eight-year-old RDS Dublin Horse Show young horse division did not deter the 93 combinations whose day at Barnadown started at 7.30am.

Just 23 riders produced a first-round clear over the 1.45m track to earn a place in the jump-off. Ballypatrick’s Niamh McEvoy and Greg Broderick’s seven-year-old Daliradas Boy, a gelding by Cornets Prinz out of Dalriada, by Diarado, who was bred by Newberry E Wilson came out on top stopping the clock at 37.93 for first place.

Mikey Pender and the Bravo Hughes-owned seven-year-old GCS Othello (SIEC Livello x Vigo D’Arsouilles), bred by Eoin Brennan, secured the runner-up spot in 38.18. Emma O’Dwyer and her own and Heather Blair’s Dougie Drea (Ard VDL Douglas x Bolivar), bred by Victoria Foster, finished third in 38.50.

Partnered

Winner of the 2024 Hankook six and seven-year-old final in Cavan at the end of 2024, Jane Gibbons’ Ceide Candy Heart (Garryduff Jar Of Hearts x Sligo Candy Boy), bred by Mary Walsh, was partnered into fourth place by Stephen Gibbons in 38.58.

Pender and his second mount, Marion Hughes’ stallion HHS Flonix (Aganix Du Seigneur x Clover Echo) – the winner of the 2022 four-year-old championship in Dublin - slotted into fifth in 38.68, while another from the Hughes stable, the home-bred HHS Mercedes (Can Ya Makan x Couletto) was guided into sixth by Molly Hughes Bravo.

Sophie Richards made it one for the home side when she rode her own and Maurice Cousins Belgian-bred mare Havana Mk Z into seventh. The final two places went to Carneyhaugh Unison (Cornet Obolensky x Don Juan De La Bouverie) ridden by Clem McMahon and Helssinki ridden by Cian Dore.