HAVING had to postpone their show six days earlier because of the weather conditions, the North Munster Region of Dressage Ireland were faced with numerous withdrawals last Saturday as the busy Halloween weekend had its effect on the attendance at this first leg of their winter league.
The inclusion of horse breeds in the results didn’t last too long, as they were absent when these results from Garranemore were published on the DI website on Tuesday.
Going up the levels, Elena Satalkina (List 4) judged two of the Preliminary classes, starting with the DI newcomers’ 5A in the short arena where, on 70.54%, Tara Flynn comfortably topped the overall scores on her Anglo-European Studbook-registered gelding Cascavel, a 13-year-old grey by Cassio III.
There were just three starters in that class and five in the P16, where the highest score of 72 was recorded by Sarah Morton riding the Irish Sport Horse gelding Homegrown Gold Felix, a 12-year-old son of Obelix who was returning to DI action for the first time since August 2021.
Five combinations also appeared before Satalkina in the Novice 24A, where she awarded her highest score (68.83) to Gwyn Holmes riding the nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Mayfly. Recording uncontested wins before the same judge were Laura Hagger on her Oldenburg mare Newton Devadasi (72.14 in the Elementary 55 where the other six entries all withdrew) and Ally Gabbett with her Connemara gelding Dunguaire Mick (67.59 in the FEI Para Grade II Grand Prix).
North Co Dublin’s Michael Moore (List 1), who will be travelling back to Garranemore later this month, had two combinations, Morton on Homegrown Gold Felix and Emma Murphy riding Ravi, on 67.88 in the four-runner Preliminary 8. Murphy and her five-year-old Portuguese Sport Horse gelding recorded the higher collective score (62.61). In the Novice 39, the only starter was Louise O’Connor with her tall ISH gelding Castlesheppard Nizer (63.28), a six-year-old grey by Womanizer.
Double success
Rosemarie Ahern O’Gorman recorded a Medium double with her ex-racehorse Khwarizmi. She and the nine-year-old US-bred Algorithims bay scored 67.66 to see off two rivals in the M65 before recording an uncontested win in the M73 (66.50).
Anne Marie Dunphy also won twice on her Dutch Warmblood mare Pedigree OK. In the two-runner Advanced Medium 90, she and her black daughter of Le Formidable scored 72.21 to see off their sole rivals, Grainne Murphy on Flamenco CCLXXXV, who had been the only starters in the AM95 where they scored 67.64.
Dunphy and Pedigree OK (75) were the sole partnership in the FEI Preliminary class for six-year-old horses, while Emma Burke likewise faced no opponents in the DI young horse test for five-year-olds, where she rode her ISH gelding Fine Margins (63), a bay son of Vivant van de Heffinck, who she competes under AIRC rules as a member of the Burren club.
In the two-runner Prix St George, Moore awarded his higher score (65.44) to Lucy Cusack on board her 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Kirktown (by Uptown); on 66.91, Evie Kennedy and her mother Maeve’s 23-year-old Spanish gelding Cordobes XXXVI comfortably saw off their sole rivals in the Inter I; and Tara Oliver partnered her 15-year-old Hanoverian gelding Furst Romance to an uncontested victory in the Grand Prix, where they achieved a score of 66.20.
Looking ahead
Three Dressage Ireland-affiliated shows are taking place this weekend, with the Eastern Region running their regular monthly fixture today at Marlton.
This will be the Region’s penultimate show at the Delahoyde family’s Wicklow venue, which is due to close at the end of the year.
The owners are relocating to Glenealy, where Josephine has received permission to develop a new stud farm and private dressage facilities.
Tomorrow, the Midland and Western Region are holding a show at Drumindoo Stud while, two weeks later than originally scheduled, the Leinster Region’s Halloween Show is taking place at CoilÓg.