LAST Saturday, Ian and Alison Wilson welcomed the Northern Region of Eventing Ireland to the first of two one-day events this year at their lovely Vesey Lodge north of Belfast, where attention to detail is obvious from the moment you arrive.

Mentored by Adam Stevenson, cross-country course designer and builder Noel Fitzpatrick revamped one of the water complexes, created a new bank and also introduced two stone walls (out of the land owned by obliging neighbours Eddie and Jan Martin), all of which served to upgrade what have always been interesting tracks at this venue.

While all-year-round care by Fitzpatrick keeps the ground in excellent condition, his wife Noreen and their daughter Holly come on board before each event to dress the fences, while we saw that the Wilsons Auction Team were enticed to spend their Saturday directing parking.

There were three notable yard doubles during the day.

Smith Brothers Eventing initiated theirs in the EI110, where Steven Smith finished first, second and fourth, on his Julie Green-awarded dressage scores, with You Neek (21.8 penalties), Tullaher Paudie (24.3) and Greenhall Gold Dust (28.8). The addition of 2.8 cross-country time penalties didn’t alter Suzanne Hagan’s third-place finish on Lough Commander (28.6).

Penalties

Three of the 10 starters picked up penalties over Aaron McCusker’s show jumping track, but none did across the country.

The John Kearney-bred You Neek, a bay son of Diamond Roller who won the five-year-old young event horse class at Dublin in 2024, was having his second outing of the season on Saturday, having filled the runner-up spot in similar company at Tyrella (3). However, he has done a small amount of affiliated show jumping at The Meadows and Portmore.

The winner and his stable-companions will continue their education up the grades, taking in international competitions as the season progresses, while the ISH gelding Mr Diceman, who won the EI100 (Amateur) in the hands of Smith’s daughter Hollie to bring up the Gilford yard’s double, will continue to campaign in the Northern Region. The combination completed on their winning dressage score of 26 penalties.

Sarah Ennis returned to her Stellor Sport Horses’ yard in Co Meath on Saturday evening with two winning horses on her truck, Gerald Kilbride’s traditionally-bred ISH gelding Alabama Cruise, who she rode to victory herself in the EI110, and her own ISH gelding Stellor Endeavour who, on his fourth start under EI rules, landed the EI100 under Abby Coakley.

Ennis might not have been entirely pleased with herself after the show jumping phase of the 16-runner EI110, as she left out a fence and so was eliminated with Ordonnay, on whom she led following Lucinda Webb-Graham’s judging of the dressage phase (19.3). However, despite being slightly over the time in both jumping phases, she moved up from second to first with Alabama Cruise, a six-year-old Loch Cruise grey, who was recording his first EI success.

Abby Coakley, an ICU nurse in Dublin’s Mater Hospital, spends much of her free time with horses, keeping her own Toome Carrick Jimmy at home, while also helping out Sarah Ennis as often as she can. This weekend, she is in Badminton, where Ennis rides Grantstown Jackson.

Coakley was delighted to have been asked to compete Stellor Endeavour. She and the six-year-old Colandro bay were having their third start together when, despite a fence down show jumping and being a second over the time across the country, they narrowly landed Saturday’s 18-runner EI100 on a total of 28.7.

Awarded

Freya Kennedy and Laoise O’Farrell completed on their Coreen Abernethy-awarded dressage scores to finish second and third respectively with Roughan Roulette (29) and Miss Mojito (29.5). None of the combinations who set out on the final phase picked up jumping penalties over the fixed fences.

There were 18 starters also in the EI90, where David O’Connor completed on his dressage score with Siobhan Morrow’s Baile An Sceilg, who ran unplaced three times when trained by Caroline McCaldin. At Tyrella (3), O’Connor and the 10-year-old Jet Away gelding had seen off 11 rivals at the same level, but in a class restricted to thoroughbreds.

Last Saturday, Zara Reid finished second, on her flat work mark, with the vastly-experienced 11-year-old ISH gelding Major Cross (28.3). On 27 penalties, Lucca Stubington led after the Corey Mawhinney-judged first phase with Unbeatable Z, but that Zangersheide gelding was one of two horses to have a problem across the country.

O’Connor wasn’t the only one to return to Tullymurry as a winner as his ‘niece-in-law’ Darcy Turley, a very determined 12-year-old who was competing for the second time under EI rules, won the EI80 on her first start with Budore Mystic Legend, who was previously the ride of her sister Emily.

Turley and her mother Sarah’s 19-year-old Welsh gelding led the 15-runner class after dressage on 24.5 to which they added four show jumping penalties. Also completing on 28.5, her first phase score, was Annie Davis riding A.J. Lightening Cavalier, but they had to settle for second. There was a good gap back to the third-placed pairing of Grace McIlroy riding Millennium Ace (34).