THE highlight of Saturday’s TRI Equestrian show jumping programme at the Association of Irish Riding Clubs’ annual Festival at the Mullingar Equestrian Centre was the RDS team championship wildcard qualifier sponsored by Premier Performance and won, following a jump-off, by Carrickmines.

The south Dublin-based club progressed to the Festival out of the South Leinster Region qualifier at Boswell in early May when they were beaten by Greenvalley. In 2023, Carrickmines also won the wildcard qualifier at the Festival after which they recorded their first-ever victory in the RDS finale. They didn’t need a second attempt at qualifying last season when they finished fourth at the Ballsbridge showgrounds.

Martina Delaney (Branraduff Bob) and Selina Ann Osborne (RTS Lisa) were on that successful Carrickmines team in 2023 – and also last year when Aigul Campbell (Kings Cross) joined their ranks. That trio again represented the club on Saturday being joined by Abigail Cocking (Creevagh Bliss) and they completed round one on a zero score as did the Abbeylands, Lismore and Sarsfield teams.

Abbeylands and Lismore both picked up four faults in round two, which resulted in a jump-off between Sarsfield’s captain Fiona Cosgrave and Carrickmines’s Osborne. The former was fast (39.16) but had a pole down with her Irish Sport Horse gelding Deniro de Semilly, a nine-year-old chesnut son of Pacino, while Osborne went clear to secure the win, and Dublin ticket, in 55.06 on RTS Lisa, her 11-year-old ISH mare by Harlequin du Carel.

Saturday’s RC80 team championship, for which seven squads lined out, was won by the Lakelands’ quartet of Aine Tully (Ballywillpower), Caroline O’Reilly (Lus Na Meala Ruby Tuesday), Clare Turner (Sharks Gold) and Ellen Rudden (Syruss Blue).

The local Mullingar club was represented by two individual winners on Saturday, viz Thomas Ryan who landed the RC90 on his eight-year-old brown gelding Valentino I and Pamela Jackman who partnered her ISH gelding Sir Lance, a 15-year-old Lancelot bay, to victory in the RC110-RC120.

There were wins also for Earl’s Wells’s Cora Steemers on the 19-year-old chesnut gelding CW Woodford (RC70 open) and for Mo Chara’s Brian Dunne with the traditionally-bred ISH gelding Quarrycrest River Dancer (RC100), an 18-year-old bay by Riverdance Clover. Another individual we should single out for mention is Golden Grove’s Joe Conway who landed the senior riders’ competition on the ISH gelding Prospect Cruise, a 23-year-old traditionally-bred grey by Bahrain Cruise.