JAMIE Smyth’s trip down to Orchard Lodge on Saturday proved well worthwhile as he won two of the three ridden Connemara qualifiers judged by Joanne Quirke and Kevin McGuinness whose final top five in these well-filled classes all secured their Dublin tickets by right.

As Sadhbh O’Connor already had a pony qualified for the four and five-year-old class, she offered Smyth the ride on her mother Aoife’s North Cottage Silver JJ and will now have home competition for their Balmoral and Tullylish winner, and 2024 Dublin reserve champion, Teach Mor Sparrow, to face in the Ballsbridge ring.

The O’Connors’ Orchard Lodge victor is a four-year-old Abbeyside Silver gelding who was bred in Co Galway by Eddie Kelly out of the Frederiksminde Hazy Match mare Cloonmore Cailin Oir. Two other geldings and two mares are going through to Dublin by right from a starting field of 49.

Great performance

Smith filled his double in the six-year-old and upwards class, for riders aged 17 and up, on Glencoaghan Rachel Girl who he is producing for the mare’s breeder Robert Nee. The seven-year-old is by the great performance influence I Love You Melody out of the Monaghanstown Fionn mare Glencoaghan Star.

Smyth had qualified Glencoaghan Rachel Girl for Balmoral and brought her to the show but, because of clashing classes, he was unable to compete her, a frustrating situation for professional riders and producers. The winner was the only mare among the top five in this 29-runner class.

Thirty-five combinations contested the six-year-old and upwards class for younger riders where the final line-up was topped by Sophia Campbell with her mother Penny’s Oxhill Andreas, a seven-year-old Oxhill Mairtin gelding who was bred by Henry Judge out of the Kingstown Boy mare Tonys Girl. Evie Kennedy qualified in third here with the multi-tasking Blackwoodland Breeze who she competes at Elementary level with Dressage Ireland and as a member of the Tipperary Branch of the Irish Pony Club.