STEVEN Smith certainly had no problems with either of the tracks over which he competed, the EI110 and the EI100. The Gilford rider had two mounts in the EI110 and while he didn’t beat the cross-country clock on either of them, they were the fastest of the seven starters.

Smith led after dressage on 23 penalties with Virginia Maguire’s home-bred Handsome Starr and, although that nine-year-old September Storm gelding had a fence down show jumping, so did his nearest rivals. The bay pecked on landing at the first element of Nigel’s Drop at 13 but still added just 3.2 time penalties for a winning total of 30.2.