IRELAND’S Tom Wachman and Fireball finished fifth in the Junior individual final at the FEI European Championships in Vilamoura, Portugal, while 14-year-old Katie Nallon was sixth in the Children on Horses individual final.

The pair were leading the ahead of Britain’s Vernon and Alice Laine from France going into Saturday’s finale after two fantastic rounds in the team competition. But a fence down in the third round of competition proved costly for Wachman who had to settle for fifth place in the final analysis.

Fireball is a relatively new mount for the 16-year-old from Co Tipperary, who is still eligible to ride in the pony ranks. The 11-year-old Selle Français gelding by Number One d’Iso is owned by Lady Carole Bamford, a well-known English racehorse owner and breeder.

“I was riding the horse for Rodrigo Pessoa, and Lady Bamford liked him and bought him for me to ride for a year. He’s a lovely horse,” Wachman said in a recent interview with Sidelines Magazine.

In the end, it was Britain’s Ava Vernon (Jolie Fleur) who clinched the gold, ahead of Belgian siblings, Tristan and Aurelia Guisson who took silver and bronze. The siblings were also part of the team that took the gold medal two days earlier. They were joined by Bart Jay Jr. Vandecasteele (Mac Jack Courtier), Anthony Philippaerts (J’Adore ven het Schaeck) – brother to five-star riders Nicola and Olivier, and Evelyne Putters (Uith de Rotes).

Switzerland took the silver medal ahead of Britain in bronze. The Irish team of Tom Wachman (Fireball), Max Wachman (Brooklyn du Hus), Caragh Charlton (Galina), Francis Derwin (AHG Cruise Down) and Ella Quigley (Horinde H) finished fifth.

Children on Horses

It was a clean sweep of bronze medals across the British teams and two of the Children on Horses team have Irish connections. Tabitha Kyle, who rode Desterly, is the daughter of Irish Olympic event rider Mark Kyle, while Eve McCoy (Non Stop) is daughter of former champion National Hunt jockey AP McCoy.

The Irish team of Emily Moloney (GVS Goodwins Queen), Isabel O’Brien (Monsoon Monday), Chloe Hughes Kennedy (Zuidam), Katie Nallon (Javas True Colours) and Alanna Fagan (Ballycarrick Lass) finished in joint fourth place from 19 teams after an excellent performance which saw them finish with 13 faults overall, less than a fence off the bronze medal.

The Children’s individual final was the most exciting finish of the week when coming down to a five-way jump-off to decide the medals. Finland’s Hugo Kogelnig riding Vermont 2 galloped home in a fast time of 30.72 seconds, but Hungary’s Gyula Szuhai Jr. riding Perthy Jackson snatched away the gold when crossing the line in 30.43.

There was the closest contest for bronze between Belgium’s Seppe Wouters and Czech Republic’s Anna Marie Vitek (Chacco’s Amke) who both had a single fence down and were separated by just over half a second on the clock, Vitek getting the medal-winning edge.

A fantastic performance saw Katie Nallon finish in sixth place individually with the Luidam gelding Javas True Colours, with just a single time fault keeping them out of jump-off. The pair didn’t touch a pole over the course of the championship.