LAST week’s 40th anniversary renewal of the FEI WBFSH Eventing World Breeding Championships for Young Horses at Le Lion d’Angers saw Ian Cassells win a medal in both age divisions, a record-setting achievement for an Irish rider.

Cassells has competed at the French fixture each season since making his debut in the CCI3*-L there in 2021 on Millridge Atlantis, his mount on this year’s silver medal-winning team at the European championships in Blenheim. His highest-placed finish prior to last weekend had been in 2022 when he finished fifth in the same class on Rossconnell Alto.

While that chesnut gelding has since moved on to pastures new, Cassells sees Rutland Flamenco and Noa W joining Millridge Atlantis as long-term inmates of his Newcastle, Co Dublin yard where the older horses are now on a bit of a break as the four and five-year-olds return from their holidays. The younger group will be aimed at next month’s Winter Festival and December’s Christmas Championships show jumping fixtures at Cavan.

On Sunday, Cassells first won a silver medal in the CCI2*-L for six-year-olds when completing on his dressage score with the Irish Sport Horse mare Rutland Flamenco (28.9 penalties). The pair had been lying eighth after dressage but moved up to fourth on cross-country day when the most notable of four eliminations was that following a surprising parting of ways at the second-last fence of the flat work winners, Germany’s Julia Krajewski and Ajana.

Lying third overnight on 27.9, local French favourite Tom Carlile and Juste Unetoile dropped to seventh with the addition of four jumping penalties, for lowering the first element of the double at fence four, and 0.8 for time for a total of 32.7, while Britain’s Melissa Joannides had three fences down and picked up a small amount of time penalties to slide right down from second to 20th with Graf Leopold (40.7).

Belgium’s Lara de Liedekerke-Meier was a second outside the time over the coloured poles but remained in the top spot when completing on 25.5 with Tara van het Leliehof who is member of the first crop of the 10-year-old 1.55m show jumping stallion Pegase van’t Ruytershof (by Comme Il Faut). The Belgian Warmblood mare was recording her third win from four international starts this season having made three appearances last year when partnered by Italy’s Cecilla Magni.

Sweet victory

Liedekerke-Meier, who had been on the mark with Kiarado d’Arville in the CCIO4*-NC-L at Boekelo the previous weekend, commented of her win: “It’s incredible; you work so hard for that. I knew the horse was exceptional, but there’s a difference between knowing it and doing it. It’s the judges liking your horse, a bit of luck on the course, and so many things you can’t control. Today I had to cope with my nerves, which were not under control until after fence 4b, but then I felt she was jumping incredibly and I could relax a little bit and make it happen. It’s a sweet victory.”

There are no entries by Pegase van’t Ruytershof in the upcoming Goresbridge Go For Gold Sale but Lot 11, Tomás Doyle’s four-year-old grey gelding Monbeg Monaco, is by Malcomme P, another young stallion son of Comme Il Faut.

Careful

“I’ve thought a lot of this mare since we got her at the start of the year,” said Cassells of Rutland Flamenco, a Casallco bay who was bred in Co Down by Eugene McEntee out of the Je t’Aime Flamenco mare Red Flamenco.

“She finds things easy but is very careful.

"She has come on in leaps and bounds since starting the season at Tyrella, finishing second in the young horse 2* at Millstreet and fourth at Lisgarvan.

“She was to run at Ballindenisk but was withdrawn, as were all my horses, when I took a fall in the warm-up. I was worried she might be short of a run because of that but she was fine. She’ll have a break now and then we can think about next year. It would be nice to come back and go one better!”

Sallins owner Patrick Murphy was on hand to support Rutland Flamenco who he purchased in the west of Ireland from Niall Daly for whom she was campaigned under both Show Jumping Ireland rules and Eventing Ireland rules last year, and in young event horse classes as a four and five-year-old, by Duncan McFadyen.

England-based Irish riders Aoife Clark and Harry Horgan finished 11th and 12th respectively on the ISH mare Lislee Honey (35.1), a bay daughter of Lagans OBOS Quality, and the ISH gelding HHE Fernhill McCoy (35.4), a bay son of Tyson out of another Je t’Aime Flamenco mare.

On Sunday, both horses lowered the penultimate vertical at 10.