HEIDI Hamilton had just the one ride at last weekend’s Eventing Ireland national championships in Barnadown, Anne Kirwan’s home-bred Mount Atlas who she partnered to an all-the-way success in the Agria EI90 national championship.

Seven of the eight starters completed on the combined dressage score they were awarded by Bernie Webb and Lynne Cassidy. Hamilton and the eight-year-old Mount Atlas did so on 28.3 penalties ahead of Poppy McMurray and the 16-year-old skewbald gelding Finding Nemo (32.1) and Ciara Kelly with Cousin Joe (34.9), a six-year-old gelding by Kingstown Cavalier.

Sarah Dowley was lying second on 31.6 after the first phase on the five-year-old RL Imperial who had a pole down show jumping and picked up two cross-country time penalties to drop to seventh.

This was a first win on his sixth start in his debut season for Mount Atlas who has never finished worse than fourth. The traditionally-bred bay is by the thoroughbred Nigrasine and is the only produce out of the Grange Bouncer mare Gentle Bouncer. Kirwan, who now rides the dam at home, recently went up to Hamilton’s yard to have a first sit-up on Mount Atlas who will be aimed at EI100 classes next season; he has already had two starts at that level.

“He is a super little horse (about 16hh),” said Hamilton of the winner who finished fourth in the season’s Traditional Irish Horse league. “This was a nice way to end the season and it was great that Anne was there to see him win. He’ll go home now for a bit of a break.

“It’s great to have this new venue for eventing. Having the dressage and show jumping on a surface certainly worked out well with the weather last weekend, as did all the hardcore for parking. At this time of year, you would often be towed into a field never mind being towed out. I think a lot of people were surprised at the amount of land available at Barnadown for cross-country and that it was such a galloping track.

“The organisers and course builders did an amazing job,” continued Hamilton who was riders’ representative for the EI90 and EI80 level classes. “There was a great variety of fences, which were really well-dressed, and there was a brilliant vibe and atmosphere all weekend.”

While she has one show jumper in the yard who competes at 1.30m level, Anne Bannon’s home-bred seven-year-old Mylordcarthago mare Gorsehill Ali, Hamilton mainly has young horses to bring on for clients. However, she likes to keep an eye on former yard inmates such as Lassban Radovix, the Radolin gelding she last rode in a CIC3* at Ballindenisk in September 2011 and who, at the age of 22, was competing in a CCI3*-S at Strzegom last weekend under a young Polish rider.