THE Coral Cove Championship CCIYH2*-S (for six and seven-year-olds) was a class stacked with up and coming stars of the future and, with various young horse championships taking place in the Autumn, Millstreet provided one of the first opportunities to see these horses on an international stage this year in Ireland.

Ian Cassells piloted Bridget Speirs’ six-year-old gelding BT Just Special (ISH) to win the class after an impressive performance, adding just 2.8 time penalties to their dressage score of 28.3 penalties.

They were one of only three horses to achieve a sub-30 dressage score from the ground jury of Douglas Hibbert (GBR), Keike Kabashima (Winter-Nishi) (JPN) and Marie Hennessy (IRL).

Cassells’ other mount Rutland Flamenco (ISH), bred by Eugene McEntee, scored 29.1 to lie third after the first phase, but with time penalties added on the cross-country course, they had to settle for eventual 5th.

“I’m delighted with him. Bridget (who also bred the horse) has done a huge amount of work with BT Just Special, while Dermot Ryan competed him in all of the young horse classes last year, so I only took over the ride this season. He has been really good since stepping up to Novice level. The courses rode very well and, while the Duggans were unfortunate with the weather, they did the best they could.” Speaking about future plans for the horse, Cassells said a return to Millstreet later in the year is on the cards, along with a possible trip to Cornbury, while “if things continue to go well, the end-of-season aim will be Le Lion d’Angers.”

Lucy Latta and Keamore Louise (ISH), owned by Lesley Crampton and the rider, stood second on the podium after a solid performance all weekend. This seven-year-old by Luidam was bred by Brian Sheahan, was lightly campaigned and is described as “inexperienced” by Latta. “She only did four events in her six-year-old year, so I’m delighted with her performance this weekend. She felt solid in all three phases and I’m happy to now think about stepping her up over the summer.”

Sian Coleman secured another podium finish, this time with Rock Festival (ISH) finishing in third place. Hugh Douglas’ chesnut gelding by Pointilliste was one of only two horses to make the time out on the cross-country course, leaving them just 1.2 penalties behind Latta on a score of 36.2.

The other combination to make the 4 minutes 50 seconds optimum time was Godfrey Gibbons and Belline Special Lady (ISH), who had to settle for eventual sixth place.

Another impressive young horse is Andy Cox and Susanne Macken’s Lady Sky M, piloted by Sarah Ennis. They kept a clean jumping score sheet, as they had done in their previous five outings under Eventing Ireland rules, resulting in a fourth place finish.

Momo Sheehy and her father Morgan’s Holsteiner gelding Da Vinci, led the way after two phases on a score of 25.8, but incurred 20 penalties at fence 8C, knocking them down the final placings.