JONATHAN Smyth and Charlton Clio added victory in the seventh round of the SJI Autumn Grand Prix league to their list of career wins in Cavan last Sunday.

Owned by Richard Smyth, Charlton Clio is a 14-year-old mare by HHS BR Charlton out of a Clover Hill dam named Admiran Clio.

Jonathan, a nephew of fellow Grand Prix rider Peter Smyth, has accumulated an impressive history of results with Charlton Clio. These include a fifth place team finish in the 2017 Young Rider European Championships in Slovakia, and a second place in the 1.45m Young Rider Nations Cup in Hagen, Germany.

On home turf they won the 1.50m Cavan Grand Prix in 2016, a feat they just missed out on repeating two years later when they finished as runners up of the same event in 2018. In 2017, they won the 1.45m Irish Masters and 1.40m Grand Prix at the Northern Indoor championships and can boast a good record in previous Autumn leagues.

A total of 45 starters lined out for Sunday’s 1.40m competition worth €3,000. Twelve combinations managed to answer all the questions set by course builders Stuart Clarke and Alan Lynch correctly to progress to the timed decider.

Just six of the 12 kept a clean sheet through the second round and Smyth’s round in a time of 38.42 proved best of these.

Young rider John McEntee, who has been enjoying a fantastic run of success of late, came closest to catching Smyth, stopping the clock 0.55 seconds slower in 38.97 for second place aboard Stephex Stables’ 11-year-old Swedish-bred mare Hip Girl.

Another mount with plenty of experience captured third place; William Lapsley’s 17-year-old gelding George (Touchdown x Clover Hill) was guided to a second round clear in 39.52 by Kenneth Graham. Graham also occupied fourth place aboard his second mount, his own 10-year-old mare Beir Bua (Lancelot x Cruising), when crossing the finish line in 40.60.

Fresh from their win in Kernan’s just a few weeks earlier, Philip Gaw and Ardnacashel Coovella, a mare by Luidam out of Prominence (Harlequin Du Carel) took fifth place in 44.94. Francis Connors and Miley Dunning’s nine-year-old gelding Luxtapose (Lux Z x Cruising) competed the line up taking sixth place in 49.50.

Murphy wins 1.35m

Saturday’s 1.35m round of the league was won by young rider Brendan Murphy riding Alan Robertson’s home-bred 10-year-old Numero Uno gelding Immun Ocean Ogara, who is out of the Alba-sired Sambia. From a startlist of 61, the pair’s jump-off time of 26.84 saw them take the top prize ahead of fellow young rider John McEntee who slotted into second with Hip Girl in 27.91.

Kenneth Graham and his own Beir Bua (Lancelot x Cruising) claimed third place in 28.30, while fourth was John Floody and Kathryn Magennis’ eight-year-old gelding Accidental Diamond (Diamond Roller x High Roller); they broke the finish beam in 31.21.

Fifth was Mark Finnerty and his own home-bred nine-year-old gelding All Action (Askoll Peter Pan x Touchdown). The sixth and final place went to Children on Horses rider Katie Nallon, who steered Judy Murphy’s 12-year-old Javas True Colours (Luidam x Courage) to a double clear round in 36.02.