THE Northern Region of Dressage Ireland offered a huge range of championship and non-championship classes at last weekend’s NAF Festival in Castle Irvine, Necarne, venue also of next month’s DI National Championships Festival.

British Dressage List 1 judges Alison Duck and Gillian Peters joined a home-based panel of Michael Moore (List 1), Lucy Adams (3a) and Lindsey Ilona Brady (List 4) over the two days, when competitors ranged from Under 10 Trailblazers to Grand Prix level riders. The schedule also featured three Freestyle classes and four DAFM young horse classes.

The Baileys Open championship was won by Laragh O’Grady on her Heather Allen-bred Irish Sport Horse gelding Mullentine Emerald Wolfe Tone (Jaguar Mail - Mullentine Easy Jet, by Cruising). She scored 69.56% on the 15-year-old chesnut in the three-runner, Peters-judged FEI Inter II and 65 in the Duck-judged FEI Grand Prix, where she faced just one rival.

The seven-strong FEI Prix St George was won by Erin McCoy on the 20-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Bjornsun (70), while Marguerite Kavanagh saw off two rivals when scoring 65.29 in the FEI Inter I on her 14-year-old home-bred ISH gelding Fursten (Furstenball - My Pretty Woman, by Carismo).

Kate Dwyer, who was crowned leading rider over the two days, won the Baileys Advanced championship on a combined score of 229.75 riding her mother Maureen’s 12-year-old Dermot Cannon-bred ISH mare Harmony (Blue Hors Hotline - Florestina L, by Florestan I).

Rachel Dowley and GFL Nava won the Dunmore House advanced medium championship at the DI Northern Region Festival in Necarne \ Kyra Griffin Photography

In the Dunmore House Advanced Medium championship, the winners were our own Category 3 rider (and Irish Horse World journalist) Rachel Dowley and her eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare GFL Nava (243.25), Category 2 competitor Sadhbh O’Toole and her similarly-aged Dutch Warmblood gelding Next Diamond (241.25) and Joanne Finlay on the 21-year-old Westphalian gelding Enrico (232.5).

The very local Mahon’s Hotel sponsored the Medium championship, where the Category 1 winner was Horse Sport Ireland’s High Performance manager for both senior and youth dressage, Anne Marie Dunphy, on her Dutch Warmblood mare Pedigree OK (232), on whom she doubled up in the DAFM six-year-old class where, disappointingly, she was the only starter.

In the other DAFM Dressage Studbook Series classes, the winners were Ellen Carroll, who scored 74.40 in the five-runner four-year-old class on her John Kilkenny-bred ISH gelding Pumpkins Fancy (Lancedor LS - Cloongowla Lady, by Ard Grandpa), Dressage Ireland chair Joan Adrain who topped the scores in the six-strong five-year-old class on her Oldenburg mare Fendi Jewel (79.60) and, of this parish, Rachel Dowley, who saw off one rival when scoring 83 in the seven and eight-year-old class on her 2018 Hanoverian gelding GFL Flashdance.

Back to the Medium championship, where Cassandra Morris topped the Category 2 scores on 217.75 with her Dutch Warmblood gelding Lots Of Joy. This combination recorded an uncontested Para Grade V Intermediate championship success on 206.425.

The winners of the NAF Metazone Elementary championships were Category 3 rider Linda McIlwaine, who scored 192.25 on her seven-year-old Patricia Connon-bred ISH gelding Roundthorn Oreo (Vittorio - Amour Roundthorn, by Sandreo), and Category 2-graded Lisa Ferguson with her 17-year-old skewbald gelding Larkin (198).

Kate Dwyer and Harmony won the Baileys Advanced Championship at the DI Northern Region Festival in Necarne \ Kyra Griffin Photography

The NAF Super Flex Novice championship winners were Category 3 rider Kate Dwyer with her own six-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare First Lady (206.5), Category 2 graded Karen McKee,who scored 204.5 on her six-year-old Karen Millar-bred ISH gelding Furstlove KCM (Furstenball - Lovely Lady VDM, by Governor) and Category 1 rider Annabelle Kraly on her 21-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare Arissa (200.25).

Twenty-five combinations contested the NAF Magic Preliminary championship, where the honours went to Dwyer riding First Lady (181), McKee on Furstlove KPCM (180.75) and to Grace Hurrell who, on 175.75, recorded a Category 1 win with Alana Lavery’s 10-year-old ISH mare Poppy Diamonds (Mermus R - Scattery Katania, by Kahtan).

The sole starter in the EFEC Nutrition Introductory championship was Lana Cheney, who scored 128.5 riding the 11-year-old thoroughbred gelding Landue (Champs Elysees - Time Of Gold, by Banker’s Gold), who won five times on the flat in Britain as a three-year-old.