TYRONE’S Niamh McEvoy came out on top of the four-star KAR Sport Horses 1.55m Grand Prix at Vejer de la Frontera on Sunday, during the fifth week of the Andalucia Sunshine Tour, when riding Olympic GL FVD into first place. A start list of 50 was soon reduced, when all but two combinations faulted over the tricky course first time out. The two who proceeded to jump again were both Irish - namely McEvoy and Billy Twomey on Ace of Hearts Z. Assured of the runner-up spot, Twomey opted to retire from the jump-off, leaving McEvoy to claim victory as the only finisher. Mayo’s Ciaran Nallon and Casalla Blue PS placed fourth in the class, while Dermott Lennon and Millview Cicero were ninth.
The Irish luck continued as Sligo’s Richard Howley won the day’s Small Tour 1.45m Grand Prix with the 14-year-old stallion Caprice d’Elle from a start list of 51, 12 of whom jumped off against the clock. Howley proved best of seven who jumped double clear rounds.
In the ribbons
Chloe Hughes Kennedy got the ball rolling for Ireland in Tuesday’s one-star Young Horse six-year-old 1.15m speed class, where she took sixth place with Cookstown Luidam (ISH) (Luidam x Cavalier Royale), bred by Donal Callery. Meanwhile, Grace McHugh and Laurens Beauty (ISH) (Cornet Obolensky x Kannan), bred by Justin Burke, were among the joint winners in the first division of the five-year-old 1.05m speed class. In the second division, Jason Foley on Castlefield Paris, Chloe Fenton on Rainbow TN and McHugh on Bawnlusk Cleopatra were some of the joint winners.
On Wednesday, Jessica Burke rode Billy Super Trouper into fourth place in the seven-year-old 1.30m speed class, followed by Conor Drain on Asher Waldstar Z in ninth, while the six-year-old 1.20m two-phase class saw Hughes Kennedy on Cookstown Luidam finish fifth, Greg Broderick on Doris VZ was eighth and Jodie Creighton on Creevyquinn Ace was ninth.
McHugh on Laurens Beauty, Broderick on Vicento V and Foley on Castlefield Paris were some of the joint winners in the day’s five-year-old 1.10m class and Michelle Kenny rode HSC Renee into eighth place in the eight-year-old 1.40m speed class.
Nallon, currently based with Ludger Beerbaum in Germany, finished on the podium in Thursday’s four-star Big Tour 1.50m speed class, placing third with Casalla Blue PS, while the Medium Tour 1.45m speed class saw McEvoy place third with Rock ‘n Roll ter Putte - the class was won by the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Seaview Evolution (FSS Correlli Bravo x Galloway Star by Castlelawn Galloway), bred by James Keane, ridden by Britain’s Joe Whitaker.
McHugh on Bawnlusk Cleopatra and Foley on Castlefield Paris were among the winners in the first division of the day’s five-year-old 1.10m class, while in the second division Broderick and Vicento V shared the spoils. Burke and Billy Super Trouper placed 10th in their seven-year-old 1.30m speed class.
Nallon took another podium placing, this time in the first division of Thursday’s six-year-old 1.20m speed class with Zados R, while in the second division, Hughes Kennedy placed ninth on Cookstown Luidam. The four-star Big Tour 1.35m speed class saw Jenny Dunlop place fifth with Questro Z to conclude the day.
Friday saw a runner-up position for Michael Pender on the nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Starfield Brighteye (Luidam x Starfield Primavera by Vivaldo van het Costerveld), bred by Lino Orlandi, in the Medium Tour 1.45m two-phase class, with Pender going on to place seventh with HHS Orchidee in the Big Tour 1.50m speed class, ahead of McEvoy on Be Kentucky in eighth.
In the Medium Tour 1.30m two-phase special class, Ivan Dalton placed seventh on board Houruari Sine, with Gerard Campbell on Coldplay I and Dermott Lennon on Colano Blue sharing ninth place.
Charles O’Reilly Hyland rode Penelope 31 into third place in the one-star 1.20m two-phase special class.
Winning combinations
Dunlop won the Medium Tour 1.40m two-phase special class on Questro Z, with McEvoy on Miro NS in fourth and Jennifer Kuehnle on Seguela v/d Gravenhoeve in fifth, while Kenny on HSC Renee were 10th in the eight-year-old 1.45m speed class and the rider was 10th again in the Small Tour 1.35m two-phase special with Cascalou 3.
On Saturday, McEvoy placed third in the Medium Tour 1.50m two-phase special with Miro NS and sixth with Rock ‘n Roll ter Putte, while Howley rode Hornet des Granges into 10th place.
Nallon topped the podium in Saturday’s Big Tour 1.45m Small Grand Prix with Little Special In Red M, when best of the 58 starters, while Drain was runner-up in the Medium Tour 1.40m speed class with Kordon VDL.
The Small Tour 1.30m two-phase special class saw Niamh Devlin place ninth with HHS Toronto, while Campbell on Coldplay I were 10th in the Medium Tour 1.30m speed class. Howley rode Emoraldi-Terma Z into third place in the Small Tour 1.35m speed class.
Sunday’s one-star 1.25m jump-off class saw Catherine O’Connor on Jolita L in the runner-up berth, while Kuehnle on Kinmar Lissagan Hero placed eighth.
There were three Irish in the top 10 of the Small Tour 1.30m Accumulator class, when Devlin on HHS Toronto placed fifth, Joanne Sloan-Allen on Liana were seventh and Shane O’Reilly on Billy Hopper were eighth.
In the day’s one-star 1.15m speed class, Creighton on Smalltown Boy IV placed third, while O’Reilly and Lancer Luck were 10th in the Small Tour 1.40m two-phase special class.
The Medium Tour 1.30m two-phase special was won by Tori Dunn riding BP Maestro, followed by Campbell on Coldplay I in sixth, while McHugh on GMH Monte Bella was eighth in the Small Tour 1.35m jump-off class.