THE first of this year’s Connolly’s Red Mills/Association of Irish Riding Clubs dressage championships qualifiers was staged last Saturday by the North East Region at Killossery Lodge Stud from where the teams going through to the final at Mullingar in early August are Cheval Black and Castle Hill.

The Cheval quartet which qualified in first place included Rachael Reid who, after her two tests with the eight-year-old bay gelding Gin, topped the combined scores in the 13-strong Intermediate division on 72.62% ahead of Drynam’s Marie Farrell on Time Travel (70.28) and Kilronan’s Ciara McGlynn riding Roebuck Crest (70.01).