COMPETING for just the second time under Dressage Ireland rules, the combination of Ella Boyle and her Dutch Warmblood stallion Pontiac VDT recorded an Elementary double last Sunday at the Northern Region’s show in The Meadows.

In the DI51, which attracted an excellent starting line-up of 11 and was judged by Vida Tansey (List 1), Boyle and the flashy six-year-old chesnut son of Total US scored 70.37% while, on 67.34, they topped the overall leaderboard of Coreen Abernethy (List 4) in the six-strong BD5.

Caroline Herron posted a double in front of Tansey on her eight-year-old home-bred Irish Sport Horse gelding Clantara Lord Louis (Hoeks Ludo W - Strandhill Misty, by Gentle Diamond), seeing off one rival in their Advanced Medium class on 65.61 and two in the Advanced DI101, where they scored 65.8.

Tansey also judged both Medium classes, where her overall winners were Linda McIlwaine and the locally-bred Roundthorn Oreo (64.22 in the five-runner DI65), a seven-year-old by Vittorio, and Jane Smith with her 11-year-old bay gelding Sorrento Moon (64.67 in the BD5). Harriet O’Hagan recorded a Junior double on the seven-year-old grey gelding OOS Comanche, scoring a combined 65.83 in the three-runner Preliminary before posting an uncontested 65.34 in the Novice DI21.

Abernethy judged the two non-restricted Novice classes, awarding the day’s overall highest score (75.69) in the nine-runner DI21 to Eirin McCrea and her father Clinton’s EI110 eventer Eisfee, a 19-year-old Hanoverian mare, and 70.50 in the six-runner BD5 to Bronagh Stevenson and the thoroughbred gelding Squeak’s Bubble, a 13-year-old chesnut son of Aristotle, who has also competed at EI110 level.

Five uncontested wins were recorded in front of Tansey - by Orlaith O’Hagan on OOS Diego in the Advanced Medium DI90 (60.29), by Lucy Adams on Esdals King WA in the Advanced DI100 (62.86), by Eilish Smith on Sheepcote Jamboree in the Prix St George (65.44), by Erin McCoy on Bjornsun in the Intermediate I (61.47) and by Laragh O’Grady with Mullentine Emerald Wolfe Tone in the Grand Prix (62.93).

Barbara McMurray (List 6) had a busy day, particularly in the two eight-runner non-restricted Novice classes, where her overall winner in both was Lisa Dundee riding Debbie McNeill’s six-year-old home-bred ISH mare Cricket (Rosscon Abbey Tom Boy - Murphys Harlequin, by Harlequin du Carel), who scored 69.79 in the DI18 and 68.10 in the BD5.

McMurray also judged four of the five Try Dressage classes, where she awarded her highest score (74.41) to Isabella Graham riding Kildenoge Boy in the Junior Intro. The only double in this section was recorded by Chloe Rooney, who topped the leaderboard in the McMurray-judged Adult Preliminary on Moorland Starling (70.71) and in the Abernethy-assessed Adult Novice with Fairyhill Markle (70.81).