WITH so many counter-attractions last Saturday, including the nearby Castlewellan Show, it wasn’t too surprising that there wasn’t a huge entry at Tullymurry when the Turley and O’Connor families welcomed the Northern Region of Eventing Ireland for the second week running.

Once again, the going came in for praise thanks to the efforts of Pat Turley, David Turley and Alan Tormey who spiked, aerated and watered the ground, while the decision to run the track from the top of the hill down to the meadows was appreciated by riders who also lauded the fences designed and built by David Turley and Johnny Hagan. As ever, those fences were beautifully decorated by Marian Turley and Elaine O’Connor.

Hagan’s wife Suzanne recorded a double. This she initiated in the four-runner EI110 (Open) where, despite the addition of 8.4 cross-country time penalties, she led throughout on Anne Magee and Jane Hancock’s Karolita O (35.4), an 11-year-old chesnut daughter of Firestone.

The double came up in the EI90 where five of the six starters completed on their Lucy Adams-awarded dressage scores. Hagan topped the leaderboard on 30.3 with Grainne Govender’s seven-year-old traditionally-bred gelding Bridgehouse Sir Lancelot (Sirillio – Oakport Penny, by Houmayoun) who was bred by Trevor Badger.

Five combinations contested the EI110, two of whom failed to complete. Ross Graham and Woodsgift Lux were last of the quintet after dressage, and picked up eight show jumping penalties but, with fewer cross-country time penalties than their remaining rivals, they claimed the honours on 56.2.

This was a first EI win for 19-year-old Graham who is from Carrickfergus and for the 10-year-old Sean Power-bred ISH gelding Woodsgift Lux (Olympic Lux – Woodsgift Master, by Kings Master).

There were nine starters in the EI100 where there was a clear-cut victory for Kate Shields, who completed on her winning first phase score with the ISH gelding DS Bouncer 007 (Moylough Bouncer – Duharra Silver Rose, by Castlecomer Q). Her nearest rival throughout was Lexi Kilfeather whose total of 40.9 on TDS Aurelia included four show jumping penalties and 7.6 for time across the country.

In mid-April, Shields won a 26-runner EI90 class at Tyrella on DS Bouncer 007 who she purchased towards the end of 2024 from Caroline Lynch. The latter had recorded a win and a second and third-place finish on the grey in three starts in well-filled classes at EI90 level.

With 5.2 cross-country time penalties, Shields finished third on Golden Tara (35.5) in the following Treo Eile thoroughbred EI100 where Jennifer Gilchrist had a pole down show jumping en route to victory on her father Daniel’s Millstream Mahler (32.8). Anna Sloan was second on Woodbury Tampa whose total of 34.8 including eight show jumping penalties.

This was a second success at this level for Millstream Mahler (Mahler – Millstream Express, by Presenting), a non-winner in his previous career.

Saturday was a red letter day for Lisburn’s Tom Boomer who, although two seconds over the time on the final leg, made his Eventing Ireland debut a winning one in the EI80 where four of the 13 runners failed to complete.

Behind the all-the-way winners, who were awarded the only sub 30-penalty dressage score by Coreen Abernethy, Gillian Neill and Abi Gardner finished second and third with The Crafty Fox (30.3) and Twiggy Rose (31.3).

Fourteen-year-old Boomer, who attends the Royal Belfast Academical Institution going into Year 11 in September, was on board his grandmother Patricia McAuley’s 12-year-old mare VSI Dakota whom he has been competing in Pony Club events for the past three years as a member of the Killultagh, Old Rock and Chichester Branch.