THE Eastern Region of Dressage Ireland staged a show last Sunday at the Marlton Equestrian Centre on the outskirts of Wicklow town where the morning drizzle had dried off by the afternoon.

This was the first leg of DI’s inter-regional autumn league while the show also incorporated the first qualifier in this year’s Horse Sport Ireland dressage autumn development league for young horses which is run in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Leinster Region committee member Killian Gaffney, who was featured in Róisín Sheridan’s Owner column in these pages last month, won two of the four development league classes which were all judged by Dermot Cannon.

First up, Gaffney topped Cannon’s scores in the six-runner four-year-old qualifier on Gleneden Justified (77%), an Irish Sport Horse gelding he purchased last year from Tommy Considine in Co Clare. The tall Dignified van’t Zorgvliet bay, who now has 61 points to his credit, was bred in Co Offaly by Jim O’Connell out of the Womanizer mare Wonder Woman.

There were just four starters in the five-year-old qualifier which Gaffney won comfortably on the ISH gelding My Bishophill Rolex (76%) who won three of the four juvenile qualifiers last season when he amassed 18 of his 87 career points. Bred in Co Kildare by Suzanne McGee, this Cougar bay is the only produced registered on CapallOir out of the Diamond Clover mare Bohemian Ruby who show jumped and evented.

Victory for Hayes

Tara Hayes saw off four rivals to win the six-year-old qualifier on her mother Fiona’s ISH mare Sandora BS (76%) who only began competing under DI rules in February this year and has 86 points to her credit. A daughter of the Westfalian stallion Spielberg, the bay was bred by Tara’s father William Hayes out of the unraced Zagreb mare Silver Grouse who comes from the family of the Grand National winner Silver Birch.

Emily Kate Robinson had to settle for second in those three qualifiers on BW Bologna (73%), Baby Guinness BW (70) and Largento (72) respectively. However, she claimed the honours in the seven-year-old qualifier on Kekepania (62.33), narrowly seeing off her sole rival, Gavin Smiddy, who scored 62.17 on board DHS Showtime.

A Dutch Warmblood mare by Lingh, Kekepania was bred at the family’s Bayview Stud in Co Waterford out of the Jazz mare Vitania and is thus a full-sister of Largento.

Category 3 rider David Freeney recorded a Preliminary double on Stephen Byrne’s CLS Illusion, a nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding by Wynton. In the DI P5A, the Gorey combination was awarded a score of 67.14% by Jane Whitaker while they comfortably topped Lynne Cassidy’s judging of the BD 15 on 75.

Lorna Keogh and DBS Oisinn (ISH) \ Louise O'Brien Photography

Brace of wins

Leinster Region secretary Lorna Keogh bagged a brace of wins at Medium level. She rode two of the four runners in the Cassidy-judged BD 61, winning on the ISH gelding DBS Oisinn (67.07), a nine-year-old bay by Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan, and placing third with DBS Second Chance (66.72). Tara Hayes was also on 67.07 with Sandora BS but had to settle for second on her collective score of 53 compared to O’Hare’s 54.

In the Dermot Cannon-judged BD 73, Category 2 rider Keogh claimed the honours on her eye-catching 14-year-old gelding DBS Second Chance (65.74).

There was an uncontested double in front of Cannon for Sarah Mellor. She won the Intermediate II on the ISH mare Hotshot (66.32%), her 11-year-old home-bred by Hotline, and the Grand Prix with her Oldenburg mare Let’s Dance (65), a 15-year-old daughter of Sir Donnerhall.

There are two Dressage Ireland shows being staged tomorrow, Sunday. The Northern Region is holding one at Castle Irvine, Necarne (where the Fermanaghs are staging their autumn point-to-point on Saturday, November 12th) while the Midland & Western Region are running at the Ower Equestrian Centre in Co Galway where the HSI autumn development league continues.