THERE was a disappointingly high number of eliminations in the five-year-old classes on Tuesday when Sue and Chris Ryan, who have long been associated with the Young Eventhorse Series through its precursor, the Future Event Horse League, welcomed participants to Scarteen.

Of course, a higher number of horses weren’t eliminated with Carol Gee’s Irish Sport Horse gelding Fernhill Pop Ice winning Section A on the excellent score of 325.8 points in the hands of Kilkenny-based Italian Luca Bortolamei. One of just two horses listed on the Irish Horse Register by Kassanova Hero B Z, the bay was bred in Co Cork by Dermott O’Brien out of the 2016 Darrara Achilles mare DS Aphrodite.

There will be huge interest among the equestrian membership of the Royal Dublin Society should the runner-up here, Tattygare Me Me Me (317.7), reappear at the Ballsbridge showgrounds this year. Ridden on Tuesday by Gwen Scott for owner/breeder Shirley Hurst, this Arkan bay, who is out of the Iroko mare LCC Yoko, was partnered by Jamie Smith when winning the lightweight championship, mares’ championship, four-year-old championship and supreme hunter championship in the Main Ring at Dublin last August.

On the mark at Tullylish, owner Paul Donovan and rider Sara Lundkvist bagged another RDS ticket when third here with the Lagans OBOS Quality gelding Sportsfield WhataJohnny (316.9).

A trio of ISH geldings filled the top three places in Section B, the leaderboard being topped by the John Tilley-ridden Borris Cornet Cooke (314.8) who had qualified for Dublin when runner-up at Tullylish a week previously.

The highly-regarded bay, who is a member of the first crop of Castlefield Cornet, was one of the top young event horses in the country last season and made his mark already this term during the Stepping Stones league. He is out of the Warrenstown You 2 mare Miss Too Coole and is thus a half-brother to the Cobra mare MGH Jessica (CCI3*-L). He was bred by Joe and Jerry Skelton who consigned the bay to the 2023 Goresbridge September Sale where he made the top price of €20,000.

The two Dublin tickets went to the Sian Coleman-owned and ridden Old Yard Candy (310.9), a black son of Sligo Candy Boy out of the Golden Master mare Oldyard Fiadh, and Le Barantula (305.6), an Echolix chesnut out of the OBOS Quality 004 mare Le Quality Lady who was ridden for Ann Bowe by Steven Smith.