KILDARE dressage Olympian Judy Reynolds and Rockman Royal Ng placed second in the Grand Prix at the three-star/FEI World Cup show in Lipica, Slovenia, last Sunday.

Competing at just their third big tour international show as a combination, Judy and the 13-year-old Westphalian by Rock Forever, owned by former Horse Sport Ireland High Performance dressage director Johann Hinnemann and Next Generation Dressurpferde, scored 69.804% for a podium finish.

Reynolds is the first Irish rider ever to achieve both the FEI European dressage championships minimum eligibility requirement (MER) qualification criteria (66% twice from the ground jury and from two different FEI level four/five-star ground jury members) and the FEI Paris 2024 Olympic Games MER qualification criteria (67% twice from the ground jury and from two different FEI level four/five-star ground jury members) with three horses - Faisao, For Fun 51 and Rockman Royal Ng.

Judy scored 67.947% with the 12-year-old Fuerstenball Old gelding For Fun 51 for third place in the CDI-W short Grand Prix.

Dubliner Kevin Acres delivered a career-best international performance scoring 66.021% with Con McCarthy’s 12-year-old KWPN gelding Ganesh for third place in the Grand Prix Special class. French Olympian Morgan Barbançon completed a remarkable four-timer in Slovenia winning both three-star and both FEI World Cup big tour classes.

“I was very happy with the Grand Prix result” commented Reynolds. “Rockman Royal Ng came to my yard at the start of this year. It takes time to build a partnership and we are still finding our way together. Achieving both the European and Olympic MER qualification after just three international shows is very positive.

“For Fun 51 is still a young Grand Prix horse and this was my first time to ride the short Grand Prix test. We had a few blips but I’m pleased with how it went. Kevin Acres came out to my yard for three weeks’ training earlier this year and it is a real confidence boost for him to place third in the Grand Prix Special.” Meanwhile, Anna Merveldt and Esporim placed eighth in the Grand Prix class at the four-star show in Wiesbaden, Germany, on 68.152%.