THE Knotts Bakery young event horse championships were run in contrasting conditions at Balmoral Park last week. The dressage and conformation phases took place in the sun and heat of Thursday afternoon in Horse Ring 1, while the jumping and suitability and potential phases were judged in the cold and rain on Friday morning in the main arena, with spectators seeking out any shelter there was.

Jonny Mulligan recorded a most comprehensive victory in the five-year-old class with Mervyn Gibson’s Randalstown Commando who is among the entries for the EI100 at Punchestown tomorrow. The Ricardo Z gelding topped the marks in all phases, although having to share the lead on 8.67% with Aoife Quigley’s Castletown Lux For Joy in the conformation and type phase judged by David Mitchell.

The dark bay, who was bred in Randalstown by cob supremo Sam McAteer out of the Parco mare Randalstown Once Shy, completed on a total of 89.67% , a figure which saw Mulligan being presented with the new Wilby McKee memorial cup for the highest score over the two classes. Colin Halliday finished second with Sandra Hamilton’s Nazar gelding Impy Diamond (83.25), with Alyssa O’Neill placing third on her own Lancelot mare Colacentric (82.50).

Clare Abbott slotted into fourth with the McKays’ home-bred Hamada (80.67) and filled the same place in the four-year-old class with another home-bred, the Melvins’ Glenkeeran Dance Inthedeep (75.67) – and that in spite of 17 jumping penalties. A system of percentages is used to judge this class and the Crosstown Dancer gelding held a big lead after the dressage phase judged by Jean Mitchell.

Victory here went to Rachel McKimmon, who is better known as a show jumper, and Martina McCrory’s home-bred Oke Ruby, a brown mare by Namelus R who had a great gallop. Her dam is the Germus R mare B. Termie R 6 who is out of a Contender mare.

The combination didn’t win any of the phases but gained victory through consistency on a total of 79.87%.Wallis Birch and Gwen Scott, who had a win in the working hunter section with a four-year-old, finished second here with the Olympic Lux gelding Ardquin who had received an equal top score of 12.50% for suitability and potential from Dutch judges Eugene and Annabeth Reesink, completing on 78.83.

Newtownards-based McKimmon placed third with another mare, the VDL Arkansas bay Hot Bobo whose total of 75.67 was helped by her winning mark of 9.67 for conformation and type. “If the two horses aren’t sold, we might well do the Dublin young event horse qualifiers,” said McKimmon. “Martina’s mare is a real event type.”

Adrienne Stuart, series organiser and course builder for these classes, the Irish Draught performance and working hunter sections, had a busy week and no sooner had the last horse jumped in the five-year-old section than she and her team of volunteers – Simon Jackson, Connor O’Hare, Jenny Smiley and Karol Nagy, backed up by Toby Fynn, Andrew Boyd and Raymond McKee – had the fences packed up and transported over to Horse Ring 1.