IRELAND’S World Equestrian Games double silver medal winning event rider Padraig McCarthy would have needed extra luggage to take all the awards he won at Monday’s Irish Horse World Awards back to his home in England.

Accepting the Star of the Month awards for both May and September, the Irish Eventing team were then named the ‘Stars of the Year’ and McCarthy was presented with The Irish Field Senior Eventer award, which was won by his teammate Sarah Ennis in 2017 and chef d’equipe Sally Corscadden in 1993. Asked by MC Brendan McArdle if he was much busier since winning the medal, McCarthy said: “I am getting a lot more phone calls anyway. But I have more young horses now, I am still lacking a little bit of back up to Mr Chunky. Our business is producing and breeding and selling young horses and that is what I will be doing after this flame has died down and that is what I’ll be doing in 10 years, so that is the day job.”