LEADING event rider Sarah Ennis judged Saturday’s final of the Premier Performance AIRC grassroots jump training series at the Emerald Equestrian Centre in Co Kildare, where the courses were built by Shane Brooks while Michael O’Connor kept everything running to time.

“It was tough to judge, especially at the higher grades, but I thought it was a very good competition,” commented Ennis. “The concept is excellent and what’s not to like about jumping a round, getting feedback on your performance and then jumping the same course again!”

At the final, which was supported by Horse Sport Ireland, the sponsor was represented by its customer service and operations specialist, Ciara Kehoe, and the AIRC by its general manager, Elaine Dunne. Premier Performance provided prizes for those placed from first to sixth in each of the three classes, while first and second were awarded bursaries of €250 and €150 respectively.

Brooke Lodge’s Hannah Linane finished fifth in last year’s RC100/RC110 final with Glaskenny Golden Star, but last Saturday she and her ISH mare were not to be denied, claiming the top spot on 145 points. Golden Grove’s Pamela Jackson finished second (144.5) on her ISH gelding Sir Lance, a 15-year-old bay by Lancelot, with Castledermot’s Ciara Kelly close up in third (144) on her home-bred ISH mare Juan Amigo, a 15-year-old brown daughter of Kroongraaf.

Glaskenny Golden Star, a 10-year-old mare by Orestus, was bred in Co Wicklow by Paula and Brian Sutton out of the Ekstein mare Enniskerry Pearl.

“I’ve had ‘Star’ since 2021,” revealed Linane. “She’s my first horse and we have learned together, from doing our first competition to doing the RDS amateur qualifiers this year. We have competed in all of the AIRC grassroots training series to date and have continued to grow and improve with the advice and learning it has provided us. This win represents a major milestone in our journey.”

Big family

The RC90 final was won by Coole Lane’s Shannon Pratt (145 points) who only joined the Riding Club this year and has nothing but praise for her clubmates. “They were really welcoming from the outset, like a big family, and, as everything is new to me, they have advised me which competitions to enter and which shows to attend,” said Pratt.

Her willing partner at that Co Wexford venue and again at Emerald on Saturday was the ISH mare Prada’s Influence, a daughter of Ramiro B, who Pratt has owned for most of the 17-year-old’s life and who she broke herself. The bay was bred by Mary McCann out of the Cougar mare Manda, dam also of the Jack Of Diamonds gelding Santiago S (CCI3*-S) among others.

Pratt rode in a few point-to-points, but these days restricts her involvement with thoroughbreds to breaking, pre-training and sales preparation at her SP Equine yard in Myshall. There, she also caters for sport horses from the basics to show jumping, dressage and hunting. “I love working with young horses, then seeing them progress under other riders.

“I absolutely loved competing in the final on Sunday,” continued Pratt. “I found the concept of the qualifiers and final to be really good. It’s great to enter a competition where you get to jump your horse, get feedback from a highly-respected judge and then get to jump again.”

Springmount’s Maria Keating finished second (143.5) on her traditionally-bred ISH mare Essentially Mine, a Desert Knight 12-year-old who she also competes as an amateur under SJI rules, with Barrow Valley’s Caoimhe Curran placing third (143) on the ISH TIH mare Clonfin Lolalicious, a seven-year-old dun by the Connemara stallion Sinatra.

McMackin is Queen Bee

Sunday’s action got under way with the RC70/RC80 final where Ennis awarded her highest score to Hollybrook’s Róisín McMackin (147.5 points) who had qualified at Boswell with the ISH mare Courcel Queen Bee. This 16-year-old daughter of Dow Jones Courcel was bred in Co Wexford by Patricia Murphy out of the Loughehoe Guy mare Kilcaven Saphire.

Dr Róisín McMackin, to give the winner her full title, works full-time was an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Trinity College. She keeps her mare on livery at the Kilcoole-based Bullford Stables of Lisa Carnegie, her coach both for dressage and jumping. “I get to ride every morning before I go to work and, of course, at weekends,” commented McMackin who is on the Hollybrook committee since last year, cutting further into time to spend with husband Colin who has no interest at all in horses.

“I’ve had the mare for about four years and do a lot of Riding Club dressage and show jumping with her. This year, we were on the Hollybrook team who won at the AIRC national championships in Mullingar. Now that the Grassroots final is out of the way, I’ll probably do the Greenvalley (Riding Club) winter show jumping league and then some unaffiliated dressage over the winter.

“It meant a lot to do so well in the final as it was a real privilege to get there and I have to thank Lisa for all her help.”

Calliaghstown’s Mayah Sammon was narrowly beaten into second with her Connemara mare Birchill Drama Chick, an eight-year-old grey by Killea Island on whom she amassed 147 points as did Anvil’s Anne Grace with her ISH mare Roanwood Hanoras Dream, a similarly-aged bay by Koro d’Or. Sammon got the nod as her clear round was closer to the optimum time.

Thirteen teams are due to contest tonight’s Equipeople AIRC regional table quiz final in the Annebrook House Hotel, Mullingar where the sponsor’s Managing Director, Caroline Lane, will start asking the questions at 8pm.