JONNY Steele won both Balmoral performance horse championship qualifiers held last Sunday at Hazeldene Farm where the entry could well have been affected by the re-scheduling of the Northern Region’s two-phase event at Tyrella to the previous afternoon.

People caught between the two fixtures, but who headed to Hazeldene, were rewarded with the opportunity to compete before series judge Gillian Kyle over an educational track built by Andrew Napier. The latter was kept busy on Sunday as he and wife Laura (who was among those who competed at Tyrella) ran an arena eventing competition on the same day.

Steele initially qualified for the Gibson Equine Haylage-sponsored Star Of The Future championships with Fran Rowlatt-McCormick’s home-bred Irish Sport Horse gelding Mon Ami Beauvallet who was first to appear before Kyle in the six and seven-year-old qualifier. The 2017 Centre Stage bay obviously impressed the Co Wicklow judge with his “good natural paces and attitude”, as she awarded him a total score of 92.5 marks which left him well clear of his rivals.

While he hasn’t encountered much opposition numerically, Mon Ami Beauvallet has performed well in EI age competitions over the past two seasons and qualified for these championships last year. He is out of the traditionally-bred Mile Hill mare Mile Lass.

Filling second place, some way adrift of the winner, was the Rosie Alcorn-owned and ridden ISH mare Goodwins Whoopi (86.5). By the ever popular OBOS Quality 004, this six-year-old bay was bred in Co Kilkenny by Larry Costello out of the Master Imp mare Goodwins Babe. She is thus a full-sister to GVS Goodwins Queen who was ridden at the 2021 European children on horses’ championships by Emily Moloney and is now jumping at 1.40m level. This is the family of the Lanaken gold medal-winner, BP Goodfellas.

Riverhill Stud-based Steele also finished third here with John Simpson’s home-bred ISH gelding Somerville Springheeled (85). Another six-year-old, this bay is traditionally bred, being by the ISH stallion Uskerty Diamond Lad out of the non-winning Footstepsinthesand mare Mystery Again.

One-two

Steele recorded a one-mark victory in the four and five-year-old qualifier on Emily Kirkland’s Final Encore (93 marks) who had a single outing under EI rules last year, finishing seventh of 14 in a four-year-old EI90 class at Grove 2. Another winner by John Reid’s Anglo European Studbook-registered stallion Centre Stage, Final Encore was bred in Co Down by Laurence McPoland out of the Ajraas mare Trendy Wendy.

There was a close battle for second between the husband and wife duo of Elaine and David O’Connor which the former won with Tullymurry Grace (92). This Chillout mare was bred by the rider’s mother Marian Turley out of Tullymurry Holly (by Camiro de Haar Z). With her owner David in the saddle, the bay won a 22-runner EI90 last season at Loughanmore.

On Sunday, David O’Connor had to settle for third on the traditionally bred Tullymurry Vegas (88.5), a King Of Mourne gelding out of a thoroughbred mare, with whom he competed earlier in the year at the Baileys Horse Feeds flexi-eventing series at The Meadows.