ARDEE rider Mark McAuley has been adding to his family and show jumping string in recent months. Two years ago he had to make a mad dash from Bordeaux as his son Viggo was born, and four months ago, his wife Charlotte gave birth to their second son, Billy.

“We named him after my late grandfather, Billy McKeever of Ardee, who was Master of the Lough Hounds for many years,” he explained to The Irish Field.

McAuley took over the ride on the 11-year-old mare Velina de Farjonniere (Toulon x Mr Blue) late last year. “Bordeaux was her first big 1.50m class, an upgrade from two weeks in Oliva where she had the last fence down in the Grand Prix. This is my second show with her and I am very pleased, she is competitive and very fast and will be a great addition to the string.”

He hopes to take Miebello to Gothenburg. “I have 23 World Cup points and will need 40 to get to Vegas but I am happy either way. I also have an invitation to the Saut Hermes Show in Paris.

“I bought a very good eight-year-old mare in Switzerland. Her dam, Holiday, jumps five-star shows and her grandam is a half-sister to Cian O’Connor’s Good Luck.

“I have a good bunch of seven and eight-year-olds and an eight-year-old called Cap West, by Chacco Blue out of a mare, Wirma, who jumps 1.50m classes with Brianne Goutal in the US.”

And to add to an already busy season, Mark was a chat show star in France where he was interviewed on RMF Sport by Kamel Boudra on his life with horses and plans for 2020. “I enjoyed speaking in French for the show, it was something different but it went down well,” he said with a smile.

Dashing Daniels enjoys Bordeaux ahead of Tokyo tour

CATHAL Daniels brought the house down in Bordeaux in an action-packed night for the Devoucoux Indoor Derby which saw France take the first three places.

Riding the show jumping-bred bay gelding Alcatraz, owned by Dr Sarah Hughes, Daniels collected €1,000 for fifth place behind Michael Jung on the Natal-sired Irish-bred gelding Highlighter, bred by Heather Dean Wright out of Ard Silhouette.

Alcatraz dropped from third after tipping a fence between the arenas, but Jung also faulted to drop from second place to fourth. The 15-year-old Alcatraz, by the Dutch sire Cartier v Heffinck out of a Corland mare, is a multi-tasker having jumped with Cathal in the Portmore Grand Prix last month.

French riders Karim Florent Laghouag, Luc Chateau and Rodolphe Scherer dominated the first three placings, respectively, with Karim ecstatic to win with the only clear round in a time of 108.56 on Punch de L’Esques.

Kilkenny breeder Ronan Byrne recently featured in these pages and his home-bred Irish Sport Horse Hidden Cyclone, a bay 10-year-old gelding by Ars Vivendi out of the Sir Libero-sired Miss Libero finished seventh with French rider Nicholas Astier.

Karen Chapman, stable manager for Cathal Daniels said they were delighted with Alcatraz. “This horse had actually jumped the Grand Prix at Portmore for the first time with Cathal, he is naturally a careful jumper really. To go quick over the elements is very good for him, tonight he just had an unfortunate four faults but he jumped confidently. He jumped well and we are thrilled, he has had a great season of indoor eventing.

“Dr Sarah Hughes, his owner, is an avid supporter of show jumping and eventing and likes the horse to participate in both. We may be heading to Burnham Market with Alcatraz but Cathal will speak to Sarah and together they will come up with a plan.”

Jung at heart

MICHAEL Jung, the German Olympic eventing champion multi-tasked yet again at five-star Bordeaux when he took fourth in the Indoor Eventing Derby before heading off to compete in the show jumping classes where he excelled.

Jung steered Sportsmann S, a grey 15-year-old by Stolzenberg, to take sixth and €1,200 in Saturday’s 1.45m speed class. The pair then finished fifth in Sunday’s Land Rover Grand Prix when they were one of three combinations to finish on one time penalty in round one to win €6,000.

On Saturday afternoon he rode fischerChelsea in the FEI World Cup where they finished 16th on four faults.

Boyd Excell-ed

IT was a moving FEI World Cup driving final win for Australia’s Boyd Excell in Bordeaux on Sunday night when he retired his 23-year-old right wheeler mare Demi. The Swedish-bred mare, who has been part of his World Cup winning teams five times and whose offspring are also competing, had her last apres show party in the stables. A superstar at world level, she is an example of how fitness, excellent feeding and top care can lead to longevity in competition.

Bost looking to be the boss at RDS

ROGER Yves Bost, who competes horses for Lady Georgina Forbes from Castleforbes in Co Longford, was delighted with his successes in Bordeaux.

With his sights firmly set on Tokyo, he also hopes to be selected for the Dublin Horse Show this year, where the Longines Grand Prix has eluded him so far. “I have never won it. I have been placed many times but I want to win it someday. I hope to go to the show this year and maybe have an eight-year-old for the international too,” Bost said.

‘Bosty’, as he is fondly known as, had a good show in Bordeaux, taking fifth in the FEI World Cup with Sangria du Coty when producing a solid clear round in 32.96 seconds to take home €16,800. As the highest placed French rider in the class, which won by Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat (see page 84), Bosty said it had been a wonderful show for him.

Forbes’ Castleforbes Talitha was also in top form to take fourth in the 1.40m speed class. The 13-year-old bay mare by Cardenio was ridden by Galway’s Michael Duffy for two years before joining Bost’s team in 2018.

Elise Megret does the business again in Bordeaux

THERE was no happier face in Bordeaux on Sunday than former Dublin Business School student Elise Megret. Elise, with her mother Genevieve Megret, owns the horses of Felicie Bertrand and celebrated Sultane des Ibis taking second in the Land Rover Grand Prix behind Julien Epaillard.

Bertrand won the Grand Prix at the venue last year with Sultane, who was bought as a six-year-old from Michel and Sandrine Hecart. She took fifth in the Paris Longines Masters Grand Prix in December and jumped a double clear in the Gijon Nations Cup last season where the team finished third.

The Megret family also owned the wonderful mare Flora di Mariposa and the stallion Vagabond de la Pomme, both who excelled under Penelope Leprevost. They also own the stallion Urano de Cartigny, a 12-year-old stallion by Diamant de Semilly who is out of a Double Espoir mare, full-sister to Flipper d’Elle.

“We live near Deauville and have eight to 10 horses competing. Felicie has her own yard nearby and rides ours at our home each day,” Elise Megret explained.

“Hopefully our chef d’equipe may choose Felicie to compete at Dublin this year. I lived in Dublin for a time, studying at business school and I enjoyed the energy at the horse show. It would be great to see her on the team.”

Grooms with a view

BELFAST and France-based international grooms’ agent Alison Prescott was in Bordeaux for the weekend. Not only was she there to consult her staff, many of whom are based with five-star riders, she brought some family members from her French farm which is only two hours from the show.

Lynch lies in fourth

DENIS Lynch, who now lies fourth in the current FEI World Cup standings after the 13th leg in Bordeaux, has already qualified for the World Cup Final in Las Vegas in May.

Bordeaux was a happy hunting ground where Cristello was placed seventh in the Prix France Info Accumulator and Rubens La Silla finished 11th in the Land Rover Grand Prix. Both talents are owned by Onyx Consulting Ltd.

French number one on the money in Bordeaux

FRENCH number one Julien Epaillard concluded his mega-winning Bordeaux weekend by taking the Land Rover Grand Prix in a four-horse jump-off aboard Queeleta (Quality x Landor S).

Epaillard and Queeleta beat 2019 winner Felicie Bertrand and Sultane des Ibis by a fraction of a second to take the top prize of €36,300. They also claimed Friday’s Prix FFE Generali Speed Class beating Brazil’s Marlon Zanotelli with Icarus. His other win came in the Accumulator with Alibi de la Roque

He stated: “It’s been a great start to the year for my team. I’m very lucky to have incredible owners and partners around me, which is very motivating and pushes me to do my best.

“It’s an incredible chance to have Queeleta in my stable. I didn’t want to ride her in the World Cup because I needed to give Toupie experience in case I had to replace Queeleta if something were to happen to her. But I plan to take Queeleta to Las Vegas,” Epaillard added.