TOM Rowlatt-McCormick may not have enjoyed the best start to the 2020 season with his new ride, Mon Ami Alme, but the Ballynahinch combination brought up a quick hat-trick of EI110 (J) victories at Loughanmore last Saturday.

Owned and bred by the rider’s mother Fran, Mon Ami Alme was winning this class for the second time as the 12-year-old Adam IV gelding had topped the leaderboard here in 2018 under Tom’s brother Ben whose final outing on the chesnut was in the CCI3*-L at Ballindenisk last September. On Saturday, Tom and Mon Ami Alme completed on their dressage score (33.5) ahead of Gowran-based Sarah O’Donnell whose total of 42 on Blessington Prince Royal included eight cross-country time penalties. Better known in show jumping circles, 16-year-old O’Donnell is another taking over the ride from an elder sibling, in this case her sister Christine who twice represented Ireland on the bay gelding at European Young Riders’ championships.