THE final of the Berts Properties Starter Series, which is run by the Western Region of Eventing Ireland, takes place on Easter Monday at the Galway Equestrian Centre.

There, in addition to the support of their title sponsors, the four, five and six-year-old classes, the pony class and the two Irish Draught classes will be funded by the Breeding Grant Initiative under National Breeding Services with thanks to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and delivered by Horse Sport Ireland.

The list of all qualified horses, including those in the Treo Eile-sponsored thoroughbred class, can be found on the Region’s Facebook page. It includes those who secured their place in the Bank Holiday decider at last Sunday’s fifth and final qualifier in the Clare Equestrian Centre, where the morning’s wind and rain gave way to better conditions as the day progressed.

While his wife Melanie went walkabout to spot future talent outside the competition area, Ardeo Sport Horses’ Neil Wrynn took on the role as judge and, while he didn’t assess the horses in the jumping phase, he was impressed with the track. A course of seven show jumps and a similar number of cross-country obstacles ended with a brush fence which jumped well all day.

As is so often the case in these late qualifiers, those with no chance of securing a ticket stay away and many of those who do compete are only filling their attendance quota.

The best-supported class was the 10-runner Derryronane Stud five-year-old division, which was won by Hannah Gordon on Liam Lynskey’s DS Zelenskyy (62.5 points), who was home-bred in partnership with the rider’s father Matt. The Forlee bay was one of seven horses in the class that had AQ listed beside their name. The first of three qualifying tickets went to the third-placed ‘Buttons’ who finished on 52 points under Amy Grady.

The majority of the nine starters in the Milchem Equestrian Centre ponies class were previously qualified, which meant that Wrynn’s top marks of 57 actually booked a place in the final for Sarah Curley and Tiger Balm.

The other winners on Sunday were Jason Doerflinger on Milchem Mirage (Sligo Candy Boy four-year-olds), Christopher Whyte with Monbeg Crystal (six-year-olds), Hannah Gordon with Murrisk The Bouncing Star (four and five-year-old Irish Draughts), Duncan McFadyen riding Gortfree Prudence (six-year-old and upwards Irish Draughts) and Katie Jane Murphy with Crimlon Dylan (Callatra Stables open).

Aisling Donoghue was the only starter in the Treo Eile thoroughbred class on board the now 20-year-old Oscar gelding Silent Picture, who won a Punchestown bumper first time out back in January 2010 when trained by Tom Taaffe, but was only placed once after that in eight starts on the track.