OWNER/producer Paul Donovan brought six horses to Millstreet for the Young Event Horse Discovery qualifiers on Tuesday week last.

Five of them were selected by Nicky Roncoroni and Ralph Conroy to go through to Saturday’s finals where they, and 11 others, came under the scrutiny of Britain’s Judy Bradwell and Anne Varley. Both the qualifier and final were staged in the Main International Arena.

Donovan fared better in the five-year-old final, which he won with the Fraser Duffy-partnered Sportsfield Imnotafraid (94 points), a grey gelding bred in Co Clare by Noel Glynn out of the Captalist mare Jilly Your Only Joking. Also representing the Co Tipperary owner were the Coolkerran gelding Sportsfield Cool As Ice, who was second (91) under Sara Lundkvist, partner also of the fifth-placed Faut Il des Vallons gelding HVL Sportsfield Firefly (73).

The Sportsfield representatives, who are all registered as Irish Sport Horses, were split by two mares. the Ciaran Moran-owned and ridden Zangersheide chesnut Ameline Z (90) and the Nadia Sabot-owned and ridden Mika Of Heritage (85), who is registered with the Warmblood Studbook of Ireland.

One person who would know the form of the Donovan horses more than most is Chris Ryan, who saw many of the yard’s inmates compete when he was commentating at the Young Eventhorse Series qualifier at Scarteen and six of them at the Gallagher Dublin Horse Show. All are for sale.

Hutchinson makes her mark

So too are the pair who qualified for the four-year-old final, the higher-placed of whom was the Dublin runner-up, the Carrabis Z gelding Sportsfield Boleybawn who finished third under Duffy on a score of 90 points.

Here the win (92) went to Kelley Hutchinson riding her father Oliver’s ISH gelding HSH Horizon (Hype - Ballingowan Delenma, by Adieu Z), who was purchased from his Co Limerick breeder Ann O’Grady as a three-year-old. Competing for US owners Mollie and Lizzie Hoff, who watched the live-stream while holidaying in Venice, Hutchinson also finished fourth (88) on Mr Humdinger VB, a strawberry roan gelding by SIEC Livello, who was bred by the rider’s aunt, Eleanor Byrne.

Meabh Flynn finished second and fifth on two Dutch Warmblood geldings, the Maximus VDL bay MBF Sirfee (91) and the Carambole chesnut MBF Fire And Flame (79).

Kelly had also qualified an ISH mare for the five-year-old final, the Clarimo grey KLS Yahoo, who she rode for her good friend Jessica O’Driscoll, sitting up on the mare for the first time on the Tuesday. O’Driscoll is still sidelined since her fall with Lux Dam Good in the CCI4*-S at the Royal Jump international event in France in late May.

This competition at Millstreet is a favourite of Hutchinson’s, who first won the four-year-old class back in 2017 on HSH Luska Legend. Since renamed Luska Candy Clover, that 2014 Sligo Candy Boy gelding was back at the Duggan family’s Co Cork venue last month when, ridden by the USA’s Jack Curtis, he finished sixth in the inaugural FEI World Under 25 Championships.

Having moved back to Ireland in May, Hutchinson started competing once again with Eventing Ireland and, from three rides, recently won the EI100 and the EI90 at Flowerhill. “I’ll probably pop back to the States a couple of times a year and, at the moment, I still have two horses to sell over there. The Hoffs’ gelding will most likely move over to the States at the end of the year. I’ve already bought some nice three-year-olds for next season.”