THE French-bred gelding Arvika Ligeonniere, who won 10 jump races on the track including four at Grade 1 level, scored by a distance when landing the Novice DI21 at the Leinster Region show held at the National Horse Sport Arena last Sunday.
Seventeen combinations appeared before Derval Diamond (List 3) who awarded the Louise Duffy-owned and ridden 20-year-old Arvico bay a score of 77.76% with his closest challenger on the overall leaderboard being the Hannah Fielding-partnered German Warmblood mare DWS Firelight (67.07), a seven-year-old daughter of Fidertanz.
In the Novice DI24A judged by Alison Thorne (List 5), Duffy and the former Willie Mullins-trained Arvika Ligeonniere had to settle for second (66.83%) overall behind Ruth Wiseman and another thoroughbred, the unraced Midnight Diamond (67.67), a seven-year-old gelding by Epaulette.
Ruth Hayes recorded a Medium double on Sue Chadwick’s Westfalian mare Foxy Lady R. In the DI65 judged by Joanne Jarden (List 1), Hayes and the six-year-old For Gold chesnut scored 70.47% while in the DI67 they topped the overall leaderboard of Bernie Foley (List 1) on 68.03.
Foley and Jarden also assessed those forward in the two Elementary classes. The former’s winner of the 14-runner DI51 was Finn O’Gara on Phillipa Teggin’s Irish Draught mare Toberpatrick Peaches and Cream (69.26), a seven-year-old daughter of Dunbeggan Grey Mist, while topping Jarden’s scores in the DI56A was Sara Glynn riding her home-bred ISH mare Granny Jeans Unicorn (65.32), a nine-year-old grey by Jack Of Diamonds.
There were single starters in five of the six higher graded classes, the odd one out being the Foley-judged four-runner Inter I won by Hannah Fielding with her Hanoverian mare Florentina DWS (68.68%), a 13-year-old Fidertanz bay.
There were 13 starters in the Thorne-judged Preliminary DI8 where the overall leaderboard was topped by Ger McNulty riding Sebastian Curran’s home-bred ISH gelding RBS Man On Fire, an eight-year-old Kannan bay with just over 40 Show Jumping Ireland points to his credit.
Best of the Category 2 riders in that class, Mairead Dolan claimed the overall honours in the Preliminary DI18 where Mairin Cassidy (List 4) awarded her a score of 75.83% for her test on the ISH mare Belperhill Aint She Sweet (75.83). This time last year, Dolan and her 2017 ISH mare by the thoroughbred stallion Sinatra were preparing for the Dublin Horse Show where they finished second in their older mares’ lightweight class.
Highest score
The best supported class in the dedicated Junior section was the Jarden-judged six-strong Elementary DI56A where Caitlin Woods recorded the highest score on her father Michael’s unregistered ISH gelding Greygrove Delight (65). Woods and the Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan six-year-old, who have qualified for the Junior/Young Rider event horse class at the upcoming Dublin Horse Show, are among the entries for the EI110 (J) tomorrow at Clonmahon House.
Abbey Ferris is also competing at that Co Meath event but in the EI100 (P) on board Connaght Curlew, not on her mother Mary’s Connemara gelding How Ya Sammy with whom she won both Junior Novice classes on Sunday. The pair scored 75.52% in the Diamond-judged DI21 and 68.67 in the Thorne-assessed DI24A.
The highest score recorded in the Junior section was 75.83% which Mairin Cassidy awarded in the Preliminary DI18 to Molly Byrne on Michael Boyd’s home-bred German Riding Pony Rostrevor Ard Rí, a seven-year-old 138cms bay by Rembrandt DDH. Cassidy also judged the six poorly-supported Trailblazers’ classes where she reserved her marginally highest score (71.45%) for the concluding two-runner Novice class won by Erin Dowling riding the five-year-old Bouncing Donard mare Superior Duchess.