Riding the 10-year-old gelding Mr Coolcaum, O’Meara put in a show-stopping performance to take the majority share of the €2,500 on offer in the class, sponsored by Shires Equestrian.

By Coolcaum Hill, out of Ranch Lady, Mr Coolcaum clocked up a series of good results for O’Meara last year, including Munster Grand Prix at Clonmel and Maryville and a Premier Series win at South County Dublin, to name but a few.

Full of praise for the horse, O’Meara said Mr Coolcaum was on top form.

“He is hard to beat when he is like this. He has plenty of scope and he answered all the questions. I produced him myself and, from the word go, he looked like a horse with plenty of potential,” he said. “We bought him from Martin Garvey as a three-year-old.”

The gelding was fifth in the five-year-olds at the National Championships, and as a six-year-old, won his first Grand Prix at Cork Summer Show.”

“It was so hard going early in the jump-off, especially when I knew that there were quick combinations to follow. It was a technical course, with a few dog legs and tight lines,” said the rider.

Speaking about his plans for the coming months, O’Meara said he planned to continue with the Spring Tour.

“I hope to do a few more legs, but I will be aiming at Millstreet and the Premier Series. I have a few nice horses coming up the ranks which I want to concentrate on before getting married in June,” he said.

Damian Beevor set a challenging course for the 30 starters, with riders being tested from the start. The first real test came in the line from fence three, a dog leg to an oxer, and then four strides to the double heading towards the pocket. Later in the course, the riders’ full attention was needed to tackle the combination.

Patrick Byrne was first to find the key to Beevor’s track with BGS Courage and another 10 riders joined him into the second round, with seven of those delivering double clears.

Byrne was the first rider in and the first double clear, finishing with BGS Courage in a time of 46.58 seconds. However, Byrne’s lead was only temporary as O’Meara and Mr Coolcaum sliced over seven seconds off the target to take the lead.

The Tipperary rider got the upper hand when he successful negotiated a tight line back to the third-last vertical and then went inside the double of oxers to the penultimate fence. This, combined with another good turn to the last, saw him clock the unbeatable time of 39.83.

Having won the round at Kildare International, Thomas O’Brien was next into the ring, riding Amaretto. Despite keeping up the pace up and maintaining a clean sheet, a longer line to the penultimate oxer cost him valuable seconds and his time of 48.22 put him into eventual sixth.

Double-handed in the jump-off, Emma O’Dwyer was keen to make her presence felt. Going first with HHS Flo, Dwyer kept the pressure on but faulted at the penultimate oxer. O’Dwyer returned with HHS Dublin and, this time opting to take a more cautious approach, lodged a clear in 51.26 to take seventh place in the class.

Killian Browne, riding Georgie D’Auvray EC, also had his eye on the red rosette but a longer line back to the original fence one and then to the third-last vertical meant that the pairing posed no threat. Their time of 44.89 was enough for the runner-up position at that point, however.

Vincent Byrne was next to take it on with Mr Rockefeller and, as expected, had his foot on the accelerator from the off. However his decision to take the longer line back to the third last vertical and stay outside the double of oxers to the penultimate vertical meant he crossed the line almost two seconds slower that O’Meara in 41.42, taking second place.

All eyes were then on the combination of Sven Hadley and Quanbell, returning from a successful trip to Ghent in Belgium where they finished second in the six-bar class. Hadley looked to be up on the target time early on, but a longer line to the third-last vertical put him behind the leader. His time of 42.40 saw him finish in third and, in the process, demote Browne to fourth and Byrne to fifth.

Earlier in the day, Jennifer French won the 1.10m class with her own Beechnut, going clear in 37.46. Not content with just the winner’s prize, French also accounted for fifth place with Who’s Simply S.

Wicklow rider Niamh Rothwell crossed the line with nothing to add in 41.10 with Be Serious for second place, while national champion Paddy O’Donnell and Kilfarissey Angel finished third, clear in 42.87. In fourth place were Ian Hickey and Zikro, clear in 43.58, while sixth place was taken by Emma O’Dwyer and HHS Centre Stage, in 47.66.

Victory in the LES Equine Insurance 1.20m class went to leading rider at the show, Jonathan Andrews and The Hurricane, who recorded a clear in 32.95.

Speed merchant Sven Hadley lodged a clear in 33.00 with Quanbell for second and Declan McEvoy and Moon Zappa slotted into third by going clear in 34.50.

Tadhg Beecher and Loughnatousa Eric finished in fourth (35.04), ahead of Collette Harte and Black Hand (37.970 in fifth and Emma Moody and Castlekelly Troy (40.73) in sixth.

Orla Peare of Wexford Equestrian said she was happy with “a great show with some thrilling jumping.”

“We are grateful to Shires Equestrian, our Spring Tour sponsors and without their support we could not offer this thrilling show,” she added.