THE Northern Region held the first leg of its summer league last Sunday at Laurel View where 21 classes were assessed by a team of three judges – Vida Tansey (List 1), Ivor Harper (List 4) and Joan Adrain (List 6).

Adrain, who is chair of the NR, had a busy afternoon as she rode as well, twice on board Carolyn Mellor’s Dutch Warmblood gelding VSH Moviestar (by Johnson) who, on 74%, recorded an uncontested victory in the Tansey-judged DI National young horse test for six-year-olds.

Single combinations also appeared before Tansey in the other two young horse classes, Lisa Dundee with Patricia Connon’s five-year-old Formidable mare RoundThorn Nice N Easy (74%) and Linda McIlwaine with her own four-year-old Vittorio gelding Roundthorn Oreo (71). Both Irish Sport Horses were bred in Co Antrim by Connon. The List 1 judge also had just one combination to assess in the Advanced class, Yvette Truesdale with Linda Telford’s ISH gelding Homegrown Ajax (62.29), a 13-year-old grey by Obelix.

Tansey awarded her highest score of the day, 74.81%, to Denise Kelly Rice, winner of the Elementary DI51 with Pamela Wilson’s Westfalian six-year-old Forvanna, another daughter of Formidable. Emma Hobson narrowly topped Tansey’s leaderboard in the seven-runner Novice BD22 with the unregistered Rolando (72.07) ahead of Dundee with RoundThorn Nice N Easy (71.72).

Mark Robinson just failed to breech the 70% barrier in the six-strong Tansey-judged BD Medium 61 where he scored 69.66 with Debbie Burns’s Hanoverian gelding Master Caledonia, a black 10-year-old by Metall. Tansey also judged the second Medium class, the four-runner DI65 won by Dale Roberts on Amelia McFarland’s ISH gelding Kingston Rua (66.56), a home-bred seven-year-old by Furstenball, while her winner of both Advanced Medium classes was Eilish Smith riding the 10-year-old Johnson mare Sheepcote Jamboree.

Not too surprisingly, the largest number of starters was at Preliminary level with 22 combinations facing Harper in the BD17A where he awarded his highest score, 70.86%, to Caroline Herron riding her own ISH gelding Clantara Lord Louis. The successful five-year-old, who was home-bred by Herron in partnership with Lorraine Jackson, is by Hoeks Ludo W out of the Irish Draught mare Strandhill Misty (by Gentle Diamond). Herron and Clantara Lord Louis also won the Harper-judged Novice DI27A on 69.83.

In the Joan Adrain-judged Preliminary DI8, Roma Oakes saw off 16 rivals when topping the final leaderboard on 71.92% with the Anglo European Studbook-registered Radar, an 18-year-old Wolkenderry gelding who was previously campaigned in Britain by Sarah Emma Higgins.

At time of writing, full results were not available from the Midlands and Western Region show at Iceford Stables on Sunday nor from that day’s North Munster Region show at Derra Farm Equestrian.