THERE was another massive entry on Wednesday for the third of the RDS working hunter pony qualifiers which this time was held on grass at the Glynn family’s Killossery Lodge Stud in north Co Dublin.

The qualifiers are run in conjunction with the Irish Pony Society who engaged David Kirkpatrick to judge Phase 1 (jumping and way of going) with most of these then going forward to be assessed on the flat and in-hand by Lucinda Kelly.

Fifty-eight combinations came before Kirkpatrick in the opening starter stakes but, having tackled the Charles Hanley-designed track, eight of these failed to progress to Phase 2. Of those that did, there was a mixture of children from the showing and show jumping worlds and this was also reflected in the top five who bagged their tickets for Dublin.

Two combinations, Lennan Moloney on Mister O’Malley and Lucy Byrne riding Dell Boy, completed on 78 points apiece with the win being awarded to the former who had the higher mark in Phase 1. Millie Dalton finished third on Jubilee (76). Moloney and Dalton had clashed at the north Co Dublin venue during the final round of the IPS Sports Pony Challenge in April when they finished third and second respectively.

A 17-year-old gelding with no recorded pedigree, Mister O’Malley is ridden by Co Kilkenny’s Lennan Moloney for his mother and coach Zoe Shannon. The chesnut qualified for the 133cm class at Dublin last August when he was partnered by Aisling Malone.

Quite often, in all pony disciplines, the 133cm/138cm classes are the worst supported and, while that was true again on Wednesday, it was good to see that there were 25 starters in the 133cm qualifier although seven of these didn’t advance past the jumping phase.

There was no need for the organisers to check back over the scores here as Co Galway’s Amber Tobin recorded a comprehensive success on Moira Kelly’s Connemara mare Ballynew Roisin (91.5 points) which left her some way clear of Caitlin Goff on the 128cm Grade B mare Ms Golden Girl (80.2). Tobin began competing Ballynew Roisin under Show Jumping Ireland rules at the start of the 2024 season and the grey has since accumulated 119 points. The six-year-old is by Cashelbay Prince out of the Stradbally Bill mare Ballynew Bramble.