THE Northern Region of Dressage Ireland held the first of their Newbridge Financial Planning autumn/winter league shows last Sunday at Danescroft where they also ran the first leg of their NAF Try Dressage league and the second leg of this year’s DAFM autumn development series.

Significantly, this fixture marked the return to competitive action of Gransha’s Courtney Akkari following the birth 10 weeks earlier of her second child Winnie who attended Danescroft in the company of her big brother Rupert and their veterinary surgeon father Chris. What a return they witnessed as Courtney recorded four wins.

Two of these victories came at Medium level on Favorino who was having his first start under Dressage Ireland rules since early November 2023.

Akkari and the 10-year-old Follow Me gelding scored 70.29% in the three-runner DI77 judged by Vanda Stewart (List 2) and 67 in the BD5 where five combinations appeared before regional committee member Lucy Adams (3A).

Decisive win

There were 15 starters in the Stewart-judged Elementary DI55 but one clear-cut winner in Akkari and her Hanoverian gelding Bernabeo, a tall, chesnut son of Benicio whose score of 74.11 left them well-clear of regional committee member Joanne McSeveney riding Enrico (67.86).

Under a different judging format, Akkari and Bernabeo (77) also recorded a decisive win when holding off their two rivals in the DAFM five-year-old class.

DAFM classes

All the DAFM classes were judged by Adams who had regional chairperson Joan Adrain at the top of her leaderboard in the three-runner four-year-old class with French Jewel (78), her Oldenburg mare by Desperado, and in the five-strong seven and eight-year-old class with her Dutch Warmblood gelding Moviestar (77), an eight-year-old Johnson bay.

There was just one starter in the six-year-old class, Linda McIlwaine on Roundthorn Oreo (77), an Irish Sport Horse gelding by Vittorio, and it was a similar situation in the five-year-old pony class where Charlotte Collins recorded an uncontested win on Coose Sammy (67), a dun Connemara gelding by Killoughter Watson.

One of the few southern riders who headed north on Sunday was Sonya McCormack who finished second in the DAFM four-year-old class on her Oldenburg mare Sosha Jakama, a tall, black daughter of Taurus on whom she had earlier won the seven-runner Preliminary DI5A on the 70.54 score awarded by Claire Ewing (List 5).

Coreen Abernethy (List 4) only judged two graded classes, facing the larger field of 10 in the Elementary BD5 where Jane Smith, on the 10-year-old bay gelding Sorrento Moon, and Eve Adair, with the 14-year-old piebald Pieter mare Dot, both scored 67.81. As she had the higher collective score (41.5 to 40), Smith claimed the win.

Abernethy also judged two of the Try Dressage classes for unregistered riders, awarding her highest score (71.43) to the Junior Preliminary winner Lizzy Taylor riding Chester.