WATERFORD’s Meabh Bolger is best-placed of the Irish riders going into today’s cross-country phase of the FEI world breeding championships for young event horses at Le Lion d’Angers in western France.

Bolger competed in Thursday’s first session of dressage in the CCI2*-L for six-year-olds with husband Brian Flynn’s Irish Sport Horse gelding MBF Back To Back who was awarded a combined penalty score of 25.3 to finish second on the day and remained there following yesterday’s second session.

The Liam Duffin-bred Metropole bay, who won the CCI2*-S at Ballindenisk in July, topped the marks of France’s Laure Eslan at E but was only placed third by the ground jury president, Britain’s Tim Downes, and Spain’s Felicisimo Aguado Arroyo (M) who both awarded their top marks to the USA’s Caroline Martin and the ISH gelding HSH Connor who lead the 50-runner class on 25.2.

That Connor 48 bay was sourced as a three-year-old by Martin and her Co Kilkenny business partner Kelley Hutchinson directly from Co Galway’s Justin Burke who bred the gelding out of the Mermus R mare Galwaybay Merstona.

Britain’s Sarah Bullimore currently occupies the bronze medal position with Corimiro (26.4), a British Sport Horse gelding by Amiro Z.

There are two other Irish combinations in the six-year-old class. England-based Irish international Aoife Clark is lying joint-eighth on 29.2 with her own ISH gelding Monbeg Ainslie (by Emperor Augustus) while, on 32.5, Co Meath’s Sarah Ennis was in 28th place with husband Niki Potterton’s home-bred ISH gelding Stellor Deelite (by Caricello).

Cassells third

A trio of German riders occupy the top three places in the CCI3*-L for seven-year-olds with the runaway leader on 18.6 penalties being 21-year-old Anna Lena Schaaf and the Oldenburg mare Lagona Old, a bay daughter of Lavagon.

Olympic champion Julia Krajewski is lying second with the Hanoverian gelding Chintonic 3 (21.9), on whom she finished fifth here last year and won the CCI2*-S at Lignieres last month, while Antonia Baumgart is in joint-third with the Holstein gelding Ris De Talm (22.5).

Sharing third place ahead of today’s cross-country phase is the highest-placed Irish combination of Newcastle, Co Dublin’s Ian Cassells and the Tabasco van Erpekom gelding Rosconnell Alto (22.5) who finished 12th here last year. Fiona and Gerry Leahy’s highly consistent chesnut, who was awarded her top marks by Britain’s Anne Keen at E, won the CCI3*-S at Millstreet in August before placing third in similar company at Ballindenisk last month.

The only other Irish rider inside the top 20 is Co Kilkenny’s Christine O’Donnell who is lying 19 on her ISH gelding BGK Valentine, a bay son of Craigsteel.

The going on the cross-country course is described as good and firm in places but there could well be some showers during the day.