SVEN Hadley strengthened his position at the top of the Connolly’s Red Mills Spring Tour leader board with a win at Barnadown.

Triple-handed into the clocked round, Hadley had it timed to perfection on his final effort to claim his third outright victory of the tour aboard Sumas Taloubet. With the clock showing 42.76 seconds, a full second clear of the nearest rival, Hadley was assured of the lion’s share of the €2,000 purse sponsored by Ballywalter Farms Stallions, the home of top show jumper Bertram Allen.

By Taloubet VDL, Sumas Taloubet is out of the Pride of Shaunlara-sired dam It’s An Ology. The dam also bred full-brother Sumas Talent, jumping up to 1.45m with Norway’s Andreas Jensen, and the VDL Arkansas-sired Sumas Arkiology, successful up to 1.35m level under Edward Butler.

Hadley has been paired with the 12-year-old gelding since June of last year and finished the 2016 season with a strong partnership in place when taking the runner-up position in the Autumn Grand Prix final at Cavan EC. This season Hadley and Sumas Taloubet were victorious in the two opening rounds of the tour at JAG Equestrian and Cavan EC. The pair have also featured at Ravensdale Lodge, Portmore and Kernans EC.

Hadley has established a firm hold on the Spring Tour with an exceptionally consistent run of form seeing the Co Galway-based rider placing in eight of the 11 rounds at this point. Having accumulated 59 points, Hadley is over 20 points clear of second-placed John Floody heading into the last three rounds.

CONSISTENT

Hadley commented: “I’m really happy with how my horses have been going, they really have been exceptionally consistent, especially Sumas Taloubet. I’ll definitely do Mullingar, after that I will decide on the round at Coilog, but I’ll definitely be at the final in Warrington.”

On his winning round, Hadley added: “I had been round twice, so I knew the time was beatable, but unfortunately I had a fence down both times. Sumas Taloubet is very fast and he is careful so I knew I could afford to take a few chances with him.”

John Doyle had set the challenge for the 59 starting combinations and his course yielded an even 10 through to the timed decider.

Hadley may have had a pole down on his first two attempts but both efforts proved good enough to make the top eight. The 10-year-old Vigo D’Arsouilles-sired mare Victoria Z proved the faster of the two. First to go in the jump-off, Hadley had set the time to beat at 43.04 and his second mount, Quanbell, proved just off this pace when across the line in 43.23.

Shannon Mackenzie provided the first double clear with the nine-year-old German-bred Dyolita. Setting a steady pace for the rest of the pack to aim for, Mackenzie stopped the clock at 47.34, which would hold for eventual fourth place.

This standard would hold for only a short interval with young rider Patrick Hickey blitzing the time aboard Martini Van Overis Z, stopping the clock at 43.75.

Hickey’s benchmark proved the one to beat for the rest of the class until bettered by Hadley. Hickey picked up the reins on the 10-year-old VDL Montreal-sired mare in May of last year and spent last year gelling with the former ride of Donald Whitaker (GBR). He was also awarded the leading young rider prize.

Jake Hunter provided the only other double clear round on the day with Canturado. Coming in the closing stages of the jump-off, the Australian young rider took the more cautious approach which ensured the yellow rosette when the clock showed 45.72.

The 14-year-old Canturo-sired stallion is standing with The Stallion Company for the upcoming breeding season. A seasoned campaigner, Canturado is a new addition to Hunter this year and Sunday saw the pair put their first points on the board. Hunter has already featured in the tour, finishing third in the recent leg at Cavan with Robinstown Lux Lovely.

Both Nicholas Butler and Darragh Ryan proved the time could be beaten but both paid the price for their speed with a single error. Butler recorded the fastest time of the day with Vimminka, the clock showing 42.12, but faulted three from home to see him slip down the line-up to fifth.

Darragh Ryan came home just outside this time with Aerosmith having faulted at the halfway point of the course and completed in 42.70. Jointly owned by Ryan and GBBS Int Ltd, the 12-year-old son of Odermus R is new ride to Ryan seen in 2016 with Danish rider Dina Bach Sigmudsen.

The next leg of the Spring Tour takes place at Mullingar Equestrian Centre tomorrow, Sunday, April 9th.