Competing at his first English show since South View last November, Hadley warmed up nicely at Aintree International Equestrian Centre two weeks ago.

With entries in excess of 100 in many classes over a packed three days, top places were extremely hard to break in to, but the Co Galway rider claimed third spot in one of the most hard-fought Grades B&C classes riding Cassinitime.

The final rounds of these classes tended to be flat out from start to finish, and Hadley had to pull out all the stops to climb up the leaderboard.

Quanbell was also in good form for Hadley, the German bred 10-year-old taking on a stiff 1.40m to clinch fourth place on the first night. Hadley added to his ribbon haul when Cassana III, an Irish-bred mare by OBOS Quality, produced a flying round to clinch fifth in the Foxhunter class.

The final Grand Prix proved to be a real thriller and Hadley again found himself in the line-up, this time with Adelgonde Z, who finished seventh.

Although travelling to Aintree primarily as Hadley’s driver, Athenry rider Glen McCullough enjoyed some good sport with Margaret Kinsella’s Irish-bred mare Sassy Cassy.

“We’ve no ribbons to show for our efforts, but it was well worth putting a horse on the lorry as I’ve really enjoyed my first visit here,” said McCullough.

Also competing at Aintree was Emma O’Dwyer, who added to her impressive seasonal tally. HHS Dublin twice finished eighth to earn tickets for the Blue Chip Championships to be held later in the spring at Hartpury, while HHS Flo also earned an additional ticket when finishing fourth in the B&C competition.

O’Dwyer was also thrilled with HHS Necktarina B, who jumped consistently well at the highest 1.40m level where rails were almost at the top of the wings in the jump-offs.

Following his Grand Prix victory in Spain with Value T, Anthony Condon made a brief trip home to compete at Aintree. His best result was a seventh placing in one of the strongest 1.30m classes on Henry Harding’s Robine De Baussy.

Just a few days after the Aintree elite show had finished, Hadley and O’Dwyer added to their ribbon haul at Bury Farm.

The first-named featured in the line-up eight times in all. His best result came in the Blue Chip Karma qualifier, Cassinitime again combining speed and accuracy to storm home ahead.

The pair also finished a creditable fourth place in the second masters’ competition.

To conclude, Quanbell continued his good form to claim second in a 1.30m, while Carla earned third and sixth spots in newcomer and Foxhunter classes.

Cassana III also claimed two places when finishing fifth twice in 1.15m open classes.

O’Dwyer also took her fair share of the ribbons, her best result coming with the Guidam Irish-bred eight-year-old HHS Figero, who finished third in round two of the masters series.

The class was won in spectacular style by Geoff Billington.

HHS Necktarina B was also in flying form in the same masters, the nine-year-old mare picking up fifth place. She added a fourth spot in the final 1.30m class.

O’Dwyer picked up additional places over the weekend riding three more horses who carry the well-known Hughes family’s HHS prefix – HHS Dublin and the mares HHS Flo and HHS Acorado. All three are Irish-bred.

With torrential rain and high winds deterring many from travelling, most riders have busied themselves with yard duties, producing youngsters or preparing for one sunshine tour or another.

Trevor Nicholson enjoyed one bright spell and travelled two horses to Ingliston, where the Scottish-based rider clinched second spot behind Laura Hutt in the 1.30m class.

Ten made it through to the jump-off and, drawn early, Nicholson produced the first double clear with Amadeus.

“It’s just been a case of keeping him ticking along, so I kept everything nice and fluent.

“Our circuit gets much busier in March, so I am working to get him fully fit by then,” said Nicholson.