TYRONE’S Emily Turkington came to the fore at Oliva’s two-star show on Saturday, when she won the Final Gold 3 1.45m jump-off class with the 11-year-old gelding Cornet, owned by Donald Loughran.
There were 50 starters in the class, of whom just six remained fault-free in round one to book their place in the jump-off. Four combinations completed double clear rounds, with Turkington setting the time to beat of 39.44 seconds. Rogier Linssen (NED) took the runner-up spot with Commander Lux exactly a second behind in 40.44, while Bart Jay Junior Vandecasteele on Vamos de la Pomme d’Or Z and Anastasia Nielsen on ESI Rocky shared third place, when both jumping clear in the same time of 42.62.
In the ribbons
Week one of the Autumn Mediterranean Equestrian Tour III was held last week, with a number of Irish competitors attending.
Tuesday kicked off well with Ireland’s Michelle Kenny being a joint winner in the six-year-old 1.25m speed class on two mounts, Olly and CFH Capri Hill, as well as in the seven-year-old 1.35m speed class on HSC Renee, alongside Niamh Hanley on Frozen Pleasure Z. Meanwhile, in the five-year-old 1.15m speed class Cameron Hanley was among the joint winners on USA Special Force C.
On Wednesday, Michelle Kenny on CFH Capri Hill placed seventh from a start list of 58 in the six-year-old 1.25m jump-off class and went on to also place seventh in the MET Young Horse Champions Trophy for six-year-olds, while in the five-year-old 1.15m jump-off class, Cameron Hanley placed sixth with USA Special Force C, also taking sixth place in the MET Young Horse Champions Trophy for five-year-olds.
Kenny then rode Mika into 10th place in the Bronze 1.35m speed class, while Richard Howley finished ninth in the Silver 2 1.40m speed class on board MSH Unlimited.
On Saturday, Kenny was back in seventh place in the Bronze 3 1.30m two-phase special class with Q-Dee de Lux. Meanwhile, Ella Kenny took another win for Ireland when riding Ragazza Di Flamenco into first place from a start list of 71 in the Bronze 2 1.20m speed class. Zahara Kirby Casola won the Bronze 1 1.10m class riding Quasia Van’T Eigenlo, when fastest of 60 starters.
Kenny and Mika finished eighth in Saturday’s Bronze 4 1.40m speed class out of 29 participants and went on to also take eighth place in Sunday’s 47-strong Bronze Tour Final 1.40m jump-off class.
The 1.45m Grand Prix saw Turkington and the eight-year-old gelding Vanilla finish 10th of 68 starters, completing one of 10 double clear rounds in the competition.
Turkington rode a measured jump-off with her young steed in a time of 44.08, with the win going to Anna Power (GBR) on the 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding McQueen (Cobra x Carevara Z by Caretano Z), bred by Anne-Marie O’Gorman in Co Tipperary, in a time of 37.42.
In a thrilling conclusion to the show, Ella Kenny and the 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Carrickadawson Womaniser won the Bronze 3 1.30m speed class from a start list of 68. The pair jumped clear in a super-fast time of 67.33 - almost three seconds ahead of their nearest challenger Maila Manenti (ITA) on VDL Groep Jennifer (70.27).