LUCCA Stubington may not have won the Foran Equine CCI3*-S at the Millstreet International Horse Trials last weekend but she and her mother Georgia’s September Storm gelding Quingenti were the only combination out of 42 starters to complete on their dressage score.

In finishing fifth on 37.8 penalty points behind the winners, Hillsborough Olympian Clare Abbott and Sarah Riley’s Holstein gelding DHI No Fear (33.3), Lucca and the John Kidd-bred 12-year-old were the only ones to make the time over the cross-county course on which there were 20 fences with nine of these being combinations.

The Kidd-bred 10-year-old Atlantic Storm (September Storm – Double Dream, by Double Eclipse) recorded his eighth career victory when landing the two-mile handicap chase at Southwell on last Monday for the Rob Summers yard.

Necarne debut

Following his Eventing Ireland debut at Castle Irvine, Necarne last month, former amateur/professional/amateur turned equine dentist Jason McKeown showed last Saturday that the jumping phases shouldn’t cause him problems in the future.

In the Maxi class at the two-phase (no dressage!) event at Glaslough, Jason and his Irish Draught gelding Harley were one of three combinations who divided first place having gone clear in the show jumping phase and again clear across the country in a time of 4m 38secs.

IT’S great to see the agricultural shows back across the county and last weekend there was a two-day fixture at Ballymoney, on Friday and Saturday, and Lurgan show was held on Saturday.

North Co Dublin judge Kevin McGuinness, a cousin of racehorse trainer Ado McGuinness, wasn’t under too much pressure in the open class at Lurgan as only one of the five entries appeared in the ring.

That was the Grace Ann Elliott-ridden Adsup, an 11-year-old Ad Valorem gelding who pulled up in two point-to-points and a maiden hurdle in 2017 when trained by Stuart Crawford.

Rosette

Seven of the nine entries in the retraining class met their engagement with McGuinness presenting the red rosette to Lynette McKeown.

She was the rider of Pottsie, a nine-year-old gelding by Robin Des Champs, who failed to finish better than 11th in eight outings on the track between the end of April 2017 and mid-February 2019.

The class for unraced horses was won by the Vi Young-partnered ‘Paige’, a five-year-old British-bred mare by Cappella Sansevero out of Kyrielle, by Medicean.

THERE has always been a great crossover of interest, if not more, between horseracing and motorbike racing in Northern Ireland and no doubt readers were devastated to learn of the death of Davy Morgan, he of the pink helmet, in a crash 10 miles from the finish of the Supersport 600 Race One on the Isle Of Man on Monday.

Lap record

On the other side of the sport, Michael Dunlop recorded his 20th TT success, and set a new Supersport lap record of 129.475 mph when getting the better of Bradford’s Dean Harrison.

While Dunlop will be hoping for a full season of racing following the Covid-affected break, his James Lambe-trained Sundrenched, who won a maiden hurdle at Ayr in April, is on a break. The seven-year-old Teofilo gelding will appear again in the autumn.