IRISH Para Dressage riders Katie Reilly and Jessica McKenna both enjoyed success at the three-star Para Dressage show at Al Shaqab at Doha in Qatar last week, where competitions ran from Thursday until Saturday, with classes catering for Grades I to V.

Both Irish girls were competing at Grade III level and Thursday’s Grand Prix A Grade III saw Reilly and her 14-year-old mare Keystone Dawn Chorus scoring 70.83% for a runner-up finish, just ahead of McKenna on her 14-year-old gelding DCI Cerutti in third on 69.39%. Italy’s Francesca Salvade on Escari took the win on 74.83%.

Friday saw a Grand Prix B Grade III class being held, with the placings in the same order. Salvade and Escari took the top spot again, this time on 74.89%, followed by Reilly and her mount on 70.28% in second and McKenna in third on 68.33.

The scores went up another notch in Saturday’s Grand Prix Freestyle Grade III, where Reilly on Keystone Dawn Chorus was awarded 72.46% for the runner-up position and McKenna on DCI Cerutti finished in third on a very respectable 70.51%. Out in front once again, Salvade and Escari received a fantastic score of 79.22% to take another win.

Podium for Connor in Italy

Meanwhile, in Italy, Ireland’s James Connor scored 65.891% with the 13-year-old Westphalian gelding Vanotti, bred by Stefan Köhler, to place third in the international Grand Prix at the three-star show in San Giovanni in Marignano last weekend.

The Italian-based Irish international rider and the Chiara Olper-owned Vitalis mare made their international debut as a combination in the same class at this show in 2025. Switzerland’s Charlotte Lenherr and Dettori claimed the win on a 69.043% total with Austrian rider Christian Schumach and Dedale De Hus OLD placing second on 67.696%.

Connor’s score of 66.638% with Vanotti saw them place sixth in the Grand Prix Special class, where Charlotte Lenherr and Dettori completed a double on a winning total of 69.809%.