AN eight-leg inter-regional autumn league run by Dressage Ireland also reached its conclusion on Sunday at Greenogue where there was a prize-fund of €2,750 on offer.

The highest score of 70.71% was awarded by Britain’s Sara-Jane Lanning in the Elementary final to Gilly Crawford who, riding her Irish Sport Horse mare Majestic Heartbreaker, a six-year-old Womanizer bay who finished third in her HSI class, narrowly saw off fellow Category 3 rider Bethany Mackey on Kalahari (70.18).

Best among the Category 2 competitors was Tracy Murphy with her black Dutch Warmblood gelding Kennedy (67.32), a 2015 son of Future.

Mackey and Kalahari, her seven-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare by Ferguson, received compensation in the Bernie Foley-judged Medium final where they topped the leaderboard on 68.75% ahead of Elaine Murphy and QT An Tainiste (68.13).

It was disappointing that the other three higher graded finals resulted in uncontested wins for Nessa Toher Shannon and Furst Fendi (66.76% in the Advanced Medium), for Hannah Fielding with Florentina DWS (67.71, Advanced) and for Sophia Doheny on Llanidan Fiesta (67.07, FEI Pony Final).

One-two

Slieve Bloom Stud’s Doheny had two rides in the Michael Moore-judged Preliminary final where she finished first and second among the Category 3 riders on her mother Louise’s Trakehner gelding Saratoga SBS (69.81%), a 10-year-old son of Oliver Twist, and San Rose (69.23).

Here, Category 2 rider Nicki Russell achieved a score of 69.62 on the former point-to-point horse Charlie Socks, a six-year-old gelding by Notnowcato, while it was a Connemara pony, the 11-year-old dun Coosheen Callowfeenish Cashel mare Ashfield Sapphire (68.85) who carried Georgia Cadogan to victory among the Category 1 competitors.

Moore also judged the Novice final where he awarded his top score of 70.17% to one of two Category 1 riders, Ella Grace Ní Bhrionn for her test with the traditionally-bred Irish Sport Horse Marlfield Fallon, a 20-year-old bay gelding by the Irish Draught stallion Powerswood Purple.

Nicki Russell claimed the honours at Category 2 level with Julie Finnegan’s Connemara mare Callowfeenish Silver (69) while nothing could separate the two Category 3 competitors, Collette Ward and Fraser Duffy who both scored 67.67 with a collective mark of 60.5 apiece.

Ward rode her own Pura Raza Española gelding Jazz XI, a six-year-old by Montanes III, while Duffy was on board Carol Gee’s ISH gelding You Two Hotshot, a similarly-aged gelding by Warrenstown You 2.