GREAT weather helped ensure the smooth running of stage one of Dressage Ireland’s Winter Finals which took place on Good Friday at Greenogue Equestrian.

“We had nearly 12 hours of dressage but the day ran like clockwork,” said show organiser and DI board member, Mark Ruddock. “I just pulled it together – Jane Averill (office administrator) did all the times and clerical work. I’m proud what we, as a board, managed to deliver but we couldn’t have done this without our volunteers’ willing and free support.”

The Advanced Medium championship for Category 3 riders was won by Melanie Young riding Mary and Finn Guinness’s home-bred Anglo-Arab gelding Sorbet (68.83%) with Dressage Ireland chair, Marguerite Kavanagh, placing reserve on Fursten (64.94).

In the FEI junior rider individual test, Young and Sorbet’s 66.25% was enough for second as Sean Burgess topped the combined scores of Joanne Jarden and Bernie Foley on 68.97 with Imperioso WW. Things didn’t go so well for Burgess and the eight-year-old Charmeur gelding in the BD91 where there were eliminated. In contrast, Young and Sorbet won on the impressive 71.41 awarded by Michael Moore and John Lyttle.

The British-bred Sorbet, by the Arab stallion Sisyrinchium out of a non-winning thoroughbred mare by Broadsword, had finished second, on his dressage score, under Young in the EI110 (Open) at Blackstairs on March 20th. The grey is entered in the EI115 (Open) at Lisgarvan tomorrow after which he will be aimed at the CCI4*-L in Ballindenisk.

“I keep Sorbet on livery at Greenogue so, when I heard the finals were going to be here, I made them my goal,” said Young, a primary schoolteacher in Blessington. “I was thrilled with him in the Finals as he really did two lovely tests.

“Unfortunately, Mary and Finn have been unable to see Sorbet compete over the past year because of Covid-19 restrictions but I send them plenty of videos of him. They are really very supportive and trust me to make the right decisions for their horse. Hopefully, things will open up this year as I would love to take him abroad for a couple of international events.”

The sole Advanced Medium Category 2 competitor, from three entries, was Martin Mullane with his 20-year-old Oldenburg gelding Griseldo.

Burgess had better luck at Elementary level where he claimed the Category 3 title on the Oldenburg gelding Fig (70.51%), posting the only combined two-test score over 70%. Jenny Doran filled the reserve slot with her Irish Sport Horse gelding, HorsePlay Clover Star (67.83).

The M&S Simply Dressage rider narrowly won the Jane Whitaker and Ann Glynn-judged BD57 on 67.68% but had earlier recorded a runaway victory in the DI E51 where, having been awarded a score of 73.33 by Bernie Webb and Clare Fitzsimons, he and Fig had five percentage points in hand over their nearest rivals.

The immediate target for the winning 11-year-old Fidertanz bay is the Medium championship at Ballindenisk tomorrow and the plan is that he will move up to Advanced Medium. Burgess put Friday’s Advanced Medium elimination down to a lack of match practice for his memory!

Elementary winners Sean Burgess and Fig at the Dressage Ireland Winter Finals at Greenogue Equestrian \ Equestrian Antics

Deverell triumphs

Had there been betting on the Elementary Category 2 championship, the in-form Aisling Deverell, a committee member of the Midland & Western Region, would have been a short-priced favourite with the ISH mare Annaharvey Firefly. The home-bred eight-year-old is by the Oldenburg stallion Floriscount out of the Cavalier Royale mare Annaharvey Royale.

The Tullamore combination won the Whitaker and Glynn-judged BD43 on a score of 72.50% and followed that up with victory in the Webb and Fitzsimmons-assessed DI E55 on 71.88 for a combined total of 72.19. Deverell was pressed in this well-contested division by Tara Hayes and Ferrero K who completed on 71.79 (72.33 and 71.25). The Elementary classes were sponsored by the Leinster Region.

At Preliminary level, Leinster Region member Iris Walshe won the two-runner Category 3 championship with her five-year-old Dutch-bred gelding Leroy VZ (67.71%). The fact that he is currently very busy in his day job, hasn’t stopped John Gavin’s progress with his ISH gelding Holywell Spark who won both the Dermot Cannon and Bernie Foley-judged DI P18 (70.94) and the Christina Keane and Jean Halpenny-assessed BD17A (73.19) en route to claiming the Category 2 title (72.06). The winning Cobra five-year-old was bred in Co Tipperary by Jacinta O’Donoghue out of her Contador mare, Oneforthenotebook. Mary Cox filled the reserve slot with Kingston Forget Me Not (68.87).

There were some discrepancies between judges including in the BD15 where Abbeyleix-based Lindsay Newitt and the ISH mare Hopes Adventure were awarded scores of 70.60% by Derval Diamond at C and 64.20 by Ivor Harpur at H for a total of 69.40. Winner earlier of the Keane and Halpenny-judged DIP8 on 69.71%, Newitt landed the Preliminary Category 1 title (69.56) with the chesnut who was bred in Co Westmeath by Anthea Rainsbury out of Athas Mor Aris (by Touchdown). The reserve champion was Padraig Quinn on Ellistown Morgan (69.34). There were 20 Category 1 Preliminary competitors last Friday.