THE sole Dubarry Burghley young event horse qualifier staged in Ireland was held last Saturday on day one of the Tatteralls July Show where the judges were Andrew Fletcher (dressage), Eric Smiley (jumping), Alistair Pim (conformation and quality) and Vina Buller (suitability and potential).

The combined marks of the first three adjudicators determined which horses would appear before Buller in the Derby arena where, on the flat, she had between one and 10 marks to award “for potential international quality to make a world class three day event horse”.

While her marks made a difference in the five-year-old section, she awarded her 10 points in the four-year-old class to the Metropole gelding MRF Coco Loco who, under MK Sport Horses’ Ciaran Moran, had earlier narrowly topped the scores (74) of the other three judges.

The bay was bred in Co Laois by Mike Comerford out of the Ricardo Z mare Grove Rose who features the great National Hunt stallion, Over The River, the sire of Over To You, in the distaff side of her pedigree.

Kilkenny-based British international Nicky Roncoroni finished second on the previously-qualified Harlequin du Carel gelding Rock ABC (81), who is now in the ownership of Stall Durst, while Jennifer Kuehnle partnered her father Hans’s home-bred Tullibards Chance Taken into third (80).

Always a strong combination in young event horse classes, owner Sandra Hamilton and rider Colin Halliday won the five-year-old qualifier with the Capri van Overis Z gelding Caprio who was bred in Co Kilkenny by John McDonald out of the Tasset mare, Chatsworth Tasset. The chestnut was only third (73) when the first lot of marks were totted up but then was awarded the full 10 by Buller.

With the addition of eight marks in the final phase, local rider Nicola Ennis also finished on 83 with Michele Dennigan’s Out Of Touch gelding Out Of Print but had to settle for second place as Caprio had the higher jumping mark. Roncoroni was third here on her own Sixmilewater (82). The Eugene O’Neill-designed jumping track, which was praised by competitors, was decidedly different from the usual Burghley qualifier containing as it did some cross-country fences.

Among the many Northern exhibitors to ride a winner at the Tattersalls July Show last weekend were Mark Eccles and Shirley Anderson, both from Co Down, who won the two amateur ridden hunter classes on Saturday.

Anderson’s success came in the lightweight division on the five-year-old Rehy High Society gelding Impersonator who she purchased from Kieran Ryan after the grey had finished reserve supreme champion at Balmoral in May.

Eccles won the heavyweight division on his own WRS Sun Rich gelding Araglin who topped the final line-up ahead of Jean Cullen’s seven-year-old gelding, Huli. In the championship, it was the two heavyweights who were judged champion and reserve, staying in class order.