IAN Cassells claimed the only Irish victory across the long format classes at Millstreet International Horse Trials, when he won the Carr & Day & Martin CCI2*-L riding the seven-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding MGH Rioja. The combination was drawn first of the 56 starters in the class to go before the Ground Jury on Thursday, and they maintained their lead from that point throughout the weekend to win by a margin of five penalties from runners-up Heidi Coy and another Irish-bred, Tisrara Timothy.
Sarah Ennis and Ordonnay were the combination who came closest to Cassells in the first phase, with their mark of 26.8 being within a rail of the 23.5 awarded to the leaders by the Ground Jury of Helen Christie (NZL), Anibal Marianito (POR) and Heather Gillette (USA). When Ennis added four show jumping faults and some cross-country time penalties to her first phase score and dropped out of contention, the door was left open for Coy. Third after dressage, the British rider climbed into second with her eight-year-old gelding by completing on her first phase score of 28.3.
“Millstreet was an excellent event and we were delighted with the horse,” said MGH Rioja’s owner Tom McCarthy afterwards. “We’ve always known he had the potential so it’s great to get the result. The horse is at home with us now, having a holiday while Ian goes to Dublin and then the World Championships, and our plan after that had been the CCI3*-S at Lisgarvan [now cancelled ]. Long term, we might look towards Blenheim for the eight and nine-year-old CCI4*-S next year.”
Cassells returned to the podium when he finished third with Bridget Speirs’ six-year-old gelding BT Just Special on 28.7. The Aachen-bound rider kept a clean sheet through the jumping phases for a second time with this six-year-old gelding, while Ennis featured in the line-up in fourth with Andrew Cox and Suzanne Macken’s Lady Sky M. Another six-year-old, this mare by the Hannoverian sire Cinsey scored 29 in the first phase and added just 0.4 of a penalty for finishing one second over the time allowed in the show jumping arena.
Junior rider Katie Gibbons rose from seventh after dressage to eventual fifth with Milchem Free Spirit (30), while Kiwi rider Clarke Johnstone added a sixth place to his tally with LT Holst Mackintosh. Carla Williamson and her Ballindenisk winner Powers finished seventh here, ahead of Ian Cassells, whose domination of this section was evident when he was also eighth with Bellscross Tysons Star.
International flavour
There was a decidedly international flavour to the leaderboards of the other classes at Millstreet, where the Horse Sport Ireland CCI3*-L was won by Italy’s Giovanni Ugolotti riding Cooley Rebound. Second of the 13 starters after dressage on 30.3, this combination added 13.6 cross-country time penalties before jumping one of only two clear rounds on the final day to take the win. Dressage leader Kaylawna Smith-Cook retired Calling Cooley (28.2) during the cross-country phase, but her compatriot Hallie Coon and the Irish Sport Horse Boleybawn Olivia put in the fastest round of the class to rise from ninth after dressage into the lead before the show jumping phase.
Coon’s two fences down on Sunday dropped her to second (45.1), while Louise Bloomer proved strongest of the Irish contingent when she held onto her third place with Martin Coen’s Atlantic Rockstar after they left only one rail on the floor (53.3). British rider Holly Maudlin produced the only other clear round over coloured poles to take fourth (57.6), swapping places on the leaderboard with Australian rider Isabel English and Cil Dara Dynamic, whose four faults dropped them to eventual fifth (59.5). Ireland’s Janie Cairns rounded out the top six with Mark Emerson’s Zambia Touch, when they finished on a total score of 61.8.
New Zealander Clarke Johnstone and the 13-year-old thoroughbred gelding Domasco rose from seventh after dressage in the Connolly’s Red Mills CCI4*-L to emerge as the eventual winners, in a class where dressage scores had little impact on the final result.
CCI4*L winner Clarke Johnstone (NZL) and Domasco \ Claire Nolan / Bit-Media at Millstreet International
First phase leaders Sam Ecroyd and the Daphne Tierney-bred Irish Sport Horse Bloomfield Manuscript (33.3) were the only combination to finish inside the time allowed over the Mike Etherington Smith-designed cross-country course to retain their lead on Saturday evening, but an unfortunate four fences down on Sunday demoted them to eventual third and left Johnstone’s way clear to win on 43.6.
Britain’s Louisa Lockwood had sat in second after dressage with the KWPN Jarson, but she chose to retire after a refusal cross-country at 12B, while Kate Rowe and Hableur, third after dressage, dropped out of contention when they incurred 46 time penalties. British young rider Isabelle Cook, daughter of Olympian Tina, rose from fifth after the first phase to eventual second when she put in a polished performance across both jumping disciplines. Riding Cymoon “F” Z, she added 9.6 cross-country time penalties and four faults show jumping to finish on a total of 49.2, just a fraction ahead of Ecroyd on 49.3.
The best Irish performance in the class came from British-based Danielle McCormack and the Padraig McCarthy-bred nine-year-old MGH Hildare Harlequin. Having lain 12th of the 13 combinations after dressage on a mark of 44.1, the combination climbed the leaderboard on cross-country day with one of the faster rounds for just six time penalties. They added nothing further to their score in the show jumping arena to finish fourth on 50.1, just ahead of British Olympic medallist Tom McEwen and the Irish Sport Horse Shannondale Arnold, fifth on 51.4.
Finn Marsden was sixth on board Cooley Capri, while best of the Irish after dressage, Sian Coleman and Kilroe Frolic, dropped to seventh with the addition of cross-country time penalties before jumping a faultless clear round on Sunday to maintain that position.