IT was a very good Good Friday for Belinda Brereton last week at Greenogue Equestrian where she won both the Prix St George and the Intermediaire II championships during the first leg of Dressage Ireland’s Winter Finals.

Amazingly, in the six-strong Inter II, where she rode Captain Negro C, Moone-based Brereton was awarded the same scores by Dermot Cannon at C and Mark Ruddock at H of 239 marks, for a percentage score of 70.29, with a collective of 15. Sarah Mellor finished reserve on Let’s Dance (66.84).

“When you looked at the sheets, there weren’t the same marks for each movement, which wasn’t surprising as the two judges had a different view of these, but the overall marks turned out to be the same which was definitely a first for me!” said Brereton who spends half the year in Ireland and half in England.

“I’m delighted with Captain Negro C as he is so much stronger than he was even six months ago,” said the rider of the Dutch Warmblood gelding, a 14-year-old son of Negro out of a Sandro Hit mare, who she owns in partnership with her husband, Denis.

Galaxy Moone shines

In the 13-runner M&S Simply Dressage Prix St George which was judged by Michael Moore and Joanne Jarden, Brereton claimed the title on another jointly owned son of Negro, the 11-year-old chesnut gelding Galaxy Moone (68.97%), ahead of Greenogue-based Kevin Acres riding Ganesh (68.60).

“I’m on the high-performance development squad and have really enjoyed, and benefitted, from online training with Johann Hinnemann. It’s great when good training is followed by results like these. I competed both horses, who I’ve had since they were two, in the Leinster Region show at Greenogue on March 28th and it proved to be a good warm-up for the Finals.

“What made things better on Friday however was the number of competitors and the high standard of dressage – every combination in the Grand Prix is on the development squad. I had my young horse, Deco, who we bought 18 months ago, in the Prix St George and while he finished fourth in a class of 13, he was only just over one percent behind my winner.

“It was great to see such a strong entry overall. It was a really well-run show and great credit is due to everyone involved in Dressage Ireland for getting the sport up and running in such difficult circumstances. On Sunday (tomorrow), we’re heading to Ballindenisk for the second leg of the Winter Finals where I have Deco in the Inter I and Captain Negro in the Grand Prix.

“After that, I will be bringing the three horses to England for the CDI in Wellington where Captain Negro and Galaxy Moone will compete on the Big Tour while Deco goes in the Small Tour. The plan then is to compete at Premier League shows in England and see where we go from there. I’ll miss the Irish shows as there is always a great atmosphere and everyone is keen for everyone else to do well.”