LAST weekend was an extremely busy one on the Irish Pony Club eventing scene with the final three qualifiers for this year’s Connolly’s Red Mills eventing championships being held on Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday Monday.

Area 5 hosted the first of these on Saturday at Kilguilkey House where Kildare’s Isabelle Tyrrell won the Open class unopposed on the 14-year-old Toravich gelding OLS Back Chat who, this time last season, was competing internationally at the old three-star level under Cathal Daniels.

Tipperary’s Tom Hayden recorded an all-the-way win in the 25-runner Intermediate where he completed on his dressage score with Derryveeney Cruise. The eight-year-old grey Connemara is by Cashelbay Cruise out of the Crusheen Comet mare Comet Princess.

The Junior class was divided three ways with the honours shared between three different Branches.

The Waterford Branch provided the first, and second, combinations in Section A where Gearoid Bolger topped the final leaderboard on his dressage score of 20.7 penalties with a favourite of the Pony Club movement, the 18-year-old bay gelding, Freemount Tayto. Muireann Kinsella finished second on Here Comes Trouble (22.2).

Niamh O’Herlihy of the United Branch won Section B with the 17-year-old chesnut gelding Green Threads while Isabel O’Reilly claimed Section C on board the Connemara Bunowen Scotty. The South Union Branch member and the 10-year-old Lockinge Frederick gelding won the EI80 class at Kilguilkey in October last year on their only Eventing Ireland start to date. Harriet Scott of Muskerry landed the Novice Junior class on the eight-year-old bay gelding Tullira Fudge.

Representing the United Branch, Rian Tagney won the Under 12s’ qualifying class on the 14-year-old piebald gelding Kellys Young Hero, with the non-qualifying section going to Samantha Gash Hickey on board Molly Meg.