KILDARE’s Judy Reynolds made history last Saturday night when a sixth place finish in the final World Cup qualifier at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in The Netherlands ensured she is the first ever Irish rider to qualify for the World Cup Dressage Finals.

Although the Olympian received an invitation to compete at the 2016 World Cup Final, where she went on to finish in eighth place, no Irish dressage rider has ever qualified for the event. Reynolds enjoyed a run of excellent results throughout the winter months which means she finished the league in third place on a total of 57 points.

Placings in Stuttgart, London Olympia, Neümunster and a brilliant win in the USA last October assisted Reynolds in her qualification bid.

Riding the Joe and Kathleen Reynolds-owned 15-year-old gelding Vancouver K, Reynolds finished with a score of 77.87% in Saturday’s competition.

Reigning champion Hans Peter Minderhoud produced a sensational personal-best performance with Glock’s Flirt to win on home turf with a score of 84.89%.

Presenting a sparkling new floorplan, the pair broke the extraordinary run of Germany’s Isabell Werth, who had been unbeatable on her previous five outings in this hotly-contested series, but who had to settle for the runner-up spot with Emilio (83.30%), while another German rider, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, took third place on the podium with Zaire (80.265%).

Reynolds will now make her way to way to Omaha, Nebraska, in the USA for the World Cup Finals, which take place from March 29th to April 2nd.

During the interval in the competition there was an emotional retirement ceremony for Parzival, the 20-year-old gelding ridden by The Netherlands’ Adelinde Cornelissen to claim the FEI World Cup Dressage titles in Leipzig in 2011 and ’s-Hertogenbosch in 2012 during their long and successful career together.