THE 2024 Stepping Stones to Success league stepped up a gear on Wednesday at Wexford Equestrian, where the jumping phases were judged for potential, gallop, etc for the first time this season and league points were on offer.

Co Cork’s Marie Hennessy, a List 2 judge with Dressage Ireland, assessed horses’ flatwork in an arena outside, after which they moved indoors where Ian Fearon judged them over a course of show jumps. From there, riders brought their mounts over to the Derby Arena, where they performed in front of Gillian Kyle.

As none of the judges knew what scores their counterparts had given each combination, it was interesting to see how some horses who were highly-scored on the flat failed to reach those heights in the jumping phases, but that the two sets of jumping marks were quite similar.

Veterinary surgeon Ciara Kinsella, who is a regular Stepping Stones competitor, guided her home-bred 2019 mare Tykillen Shindig (195.7 marks) to a narrow victory in the Childeric Saddles four-year-old class, the daughter of Dignified van’t Zorgvliet being eligible under the ‘matron’ scheme, having had a filly foal by Tyson last year.

“She was super in all three phases,” said the owner/breeder/rider of her winner, who is out of the traditionally-bred Master Imp mare Ballymurphy Queen, dam previously of the Sambucco stallion Marchesi Impolitaire (CSI4*-W). “I will finish off this series with her and also take her to Balmoral, as she is qualified for the five-year-old class there.

“I’ll do the Young Eventhorse Series qualifiers with her during the summer and, perhaps, the Horse Sport Ireland eventing series. Next year, I’d love to get her to Le Lion but, whatever she does, the plan is that she will stay on the farm as a broodmare. Her dam is due to foal back to Dignified any day now.”

Second

Veterinary surgeon Diarmuid Ryan finished second on another home-bred, Bridget Speirs’s ISH gelding BT Just Special (195.5), who is by I’m Special de Muze out of a Robin Des Pres mare, who ran once in a bumper and three times over hurdles when trained by Jessica Harrington. John Tilley finished third on Kilkenny International’s British-bred mare NPS Nebraska (195.3), the NPS Super Nova grey on whom he filled the runner-up slot in week one.

There was a good entry of 21 in that class and 31 in the Childeric five-year-old division, where the honours went to another now Stepping Stones regular, Robbie Kearns, who was on board Richard Ames’s ISH mare Belline Kilbunny Harmony (194 marks). This Herald 3 grey, who qualified for Dublin last season through the Young Eventhorse Series, was bred in Co Waterford by Richard O’Hara out of the Flagmount King mare Baytona Beach.

Locally-based Patrick Whelan had a busy day and here from three rides finished second and third on AlwaysSapphire (189.5), who is among the entries for the DAFM eventing series class for five-year-olds at Lisgarvan tomorrow, and MBF Galavanto (189).

Bryan Maguire’s ISH gelding AlwaysSapphire is by Pointilliste out of Simon McCarthy’s Diamond Rock mare Cushinstown Diamond, while Sarah Duffy’s MBF Galavanto is a British-bred Anglo European Studbook-registered by Luidam out of a Fines mare Beca, an own-sister to Armada (CCI4*) and Nereo (CCI4*).

Next Wednesday is the annual Viewing Day at the Stepping Stones league, when all rounds will be videoed and can be seen on Irish Sport TV once the competition is over.