JAMES Hogg won the 12th round of the Connolly’s Red Mills Spring Tour Grand Prix League at Mullingar Equestrian last Sunday. Riding his father’s home-bred 10-year-old gelding Always On My Mind (Ard VDL Douglas x Andiamo), Hogg saw off stiff competition in the 13-horse jump-off to claim the win.

“I’m very pleased with the result. It was my second attempt at the jump-off track. I felt I rode badly with the first horse (Interpreter) and had two fences down at the start of the course. But with my second horse we seemed to get it right,” Hogg commented afterwards.

“We got a good line coming off the corner to the second fence, an oxer with a water tray, so we got off to a good start. From there we just met the rest of the fences well.

“The course suited us, there were long runs and my horse is quite quick away from the back of the fence. I also managed to do eight strides in the final line which made up some time I think. The more I went around the more ambitious I got so it all worked out well for me today.”

The Fermanagh-based rider added: “My next show will be Louth in a few weeks. I plan to do the Leinster and Ulster 1.35 metre leagues and a couple of National Grands Prix.

“I haven’t been chasing the Spring League, I’ve just been concentrating on the young horses and hopefully we can look forward to some good results with them this summer.”

A large field of 51 lined out for the third last round of the league with 13 earning a place in the timed decider.

First to go in the jump-off was Pro/Am rider Vickie Anderson and Zack. They produced a second clear round in a time of 46.03, which would seen them finish out of the top eight but would be good enough to earn them their seventh Leading Pro/Am rider title of the league.

“I’m thrilled with how my horse went. I was delighted to make it into the jump-off and then to get another clear was fantastic. My goal was just to leave all the fences up, a steady clear round, and that’s what we had so I’m delighted with the result,” she said.

Next in Jessica Burke and Captain Cruise also produced a clear round but in quite a slow 47.27 which would see them out of the placings.

Young rider Thomas Foley and Ballylynch Wizard then set the target to beat as the third pair in. They stopped the clock with a clear round in 44.70 seconds to set the pace. This would eventually see them settle for fourth place and collect the Leading Young Rider prize.

League leader Sven Hadley and Why Not Fado were the next duo to return a clear round. They did so in 45.88 for eventual eighth place. Ger O’Neill and a fairly recent addition to his string, the eight-year-old Iroko gelding Galway Bay Astrojet were clear in a slightly faster time of 45.41 for seventh place.

Ninth to go, Gerard Clarke had to settle for equal fourth place with Foley when he matched the young rider’s time of 44.70 when clear with Adragh Stein.

James Hogg then produced the winning round, stopping the clock at 42.05 seconds, well ahead of his closest rival to secure the win.

Next in, Patrick Hickey riding Martini Van Overis Z, left all the fences intact but was just marginally slower than Clarke breaking the beam in 44.73 for sixth place. The penultimate rider in was Jonathan Andrew with The Hurricane, they collected four faults at the second fence which saw them out of the running.

Last to go was Sven Hadley aboard Sumas Taloubet. They made a valiant effort to catch the leading time and increase their already commanding lead of the league table. They just missed out with a clear round in a time of 42.87 to take second place, which sees him move even further ahead at the top of the table on 67 points, heading into the final weekend. John Floody is in second place on 38, just ahead of Shannon Mckenzie on 36.

In addition to the interest surrounding the day’s feature class, something else was causing quite a stir in Mullingar last Sunday. The Cruising clone Cruising Encore made his competition debut in the 1m class. Partnered by Alexander Butler the youngster popped around the track in his first public appearance of what is sure to be a keenly observed competitive career.

The next round of the Spring Tour takes place in Coilóg Equestrian today, with the final taking place tomorrow in Warrington where there are double points on offer.