Margie McLoone

THE Irish Pony Club/Connolly’s Red Mills eventing championships took place last weekend at Kilguilkey House, Mallow where the Longford Branch added victory in the intermediate team championship to that they won at the Festival just a fortnight previously.

Three of the team who claimed the open show jumping championship at Mullingar - Aisling McGreal, Aine McLoughlin and James Whyte - were in the line-up again, but here Rebecca Yorke was substituted by Edel Whyte, who recorded the best individual result when first in Arena 4. She completed on her dressage score of 31.96 penaltieswith the 17-year-old bay gelding Dunlavin Cool Customer.

Also finishing on their first phase scores, McLoughlin was second (33.59) in Arena 2 with First Man Lara, a 12-year-old gelding by The Bat, while James Whyte placed fourth (33.09) in Arena 3 on Abel Star, who is just a five-year-old. The dun gelding is by the Connemara Manniard Abel out of the Diamond Serpent mare Ballykelly Star, dam also of the Grade A mare Carnagh Imp (by Master Imp), among others.

Disappointingly for McGreal, who was lying fifth after dressage and show jumped clear in a very competitive Arena 1, she picked up 20 jumping penalties but still got home within the time across the country with Harold McGahern’s seven-year-old Vivaldo Van Het Costersveld mare Kimono Sash. McGreal’s was the discard score as the Longfords, who had a team at the championships for the first time, completed on a total of 98.59 penalties.

Down from Area 17 of The Pony Club (Northern Ireland), the visiting Iveagh team were narrowly beaten into second when they posted a score of 99.92.

ROCK RANSOM

Their best result came from Amy Whittle on the lovely OBOS Quality 004 gelding Rock Ransom, who won Arena 1 in spite of adding four show jumping penalties to her dressage score of 25. This combination have been performing well on the Eventing Ireland scene, most recently winning an EI100 class at Vesey Lodge.

Also on the Iveagh squad were Katie O’Hare (Glenkyle Beaver), Conal McGrath (BLS Linvarra) and Shanie Murphy (Kilbeg Tommy), all regular competitors under EI rules.

In the IPC Championship, second place on a total of 112.15 went to the in-form Laois squad of Pat Carroll (Tintreach Bain) and Emily Moore (Timahoe Gordon), who were third and fifth in their respective Arenas, Henny Sheeran (Kincluny) and Paul Kehoe (He’s Da Man).

The West Waterford branch placed third on 114.53, their Kobee Fawkes on board Benjamin Fyer placing fourth in Arena 4. Also on the team were Molly O’Neill (Clearistown Flavia), Clara Roch-Perks (Guelder Rose) and Robin Creagh (Cupids Mark).

Individually, Courtney Walsh topped Arena 2 on 30.36 penalties with Pasodobel. The Tipperary branch member shares the ride on the 19-year-old Westphalian gelding, a son of Prominenz, with her mother Carly, who competes with the bay as a member of Clonmel Riding Club.

Alice Symington, a member of the Carbery Branch, ran out a comfortable winner (25.43) of Arena 3 riding Ballyingowan Glance, a 15-year-old Buster King gelding with whom she too shares the ride in Eventing Ireland competitions with her mother Marie.

Although she could only finish second (29.18) in Arena 1 at the weekend, Waterford’s Niamh Hayden was a runaway winner of the intermediate league as she finished on 50 points, well clear of her nearest rivals Wicklow’s Mily O’Loughlin (21) and Kildare’s Cian Springate (19).

This has been a very successful month for Hayden who, the previous weekend, won the EI100P title at the Eventing Ireland National Championships in Tattersalls on her father Paul’s 11-year-old bay gelding Freddie.

Earlier in the summer, Niamh and Freddie featured on the front page of the Irish Horse World.

The intermediate riders coped far better with their cross-country phase than the open members who competed over a strong, technical challenge set by landowner and cross-country course designer/builder, Danny Dulohery.

Unfortunately, with so many senior members competing either abroad last weekend or at Millsteet this week, there were no teams forward for the open section and, of the eight individuals who started, only half managed to complete.

The runaway winner, on her dressage score of 28.63 penalties, was the South Union’s Nicole Lynch, the youngest rider in the class, and Chasmarella who, lying third overnight, were first out on the cross-country track on Sunday.

With the leaders after dressage both failing to complete, Lynch was last to show jump of the quartet who remained in the competition and she proved up to the pressure when recording the only clear. Lynch and Chasmarella, an eight-year-old mare by Nigrasine, were among the huge entry in the CICJ* class at Millstreet.

On 19 points, Lynch finished joint-third in the Open League with the Killinicks’ Rachel Rowe, who was the dressage winner on Saturday with The Artist’s Apprentice (26.13).

Aisling O’Brien of the West Waterford Branch topped the League on 26 points, having a single point in hand over the Killinicks’ Noel Dunne. O’Brien (Glenomra Andy) and Dunne (Warship) finished second and third behind Lynch on Sunday afternoon when, with 12 show jumping penalties apiece, they completed the championship on 43.61 and 47.08 respectively.