At the northern venue, Athenry’s Marilyn Bane showed her versatility by finishing second on her side-saddle debut with her own seven-year-old Gleneven Rebel gelding The Grey Rebel.

A groom in the Blazers’ kennels over the winter, Marilyn also works as a children’s entertainer, a singer (she finished third in RTE’s You’re A Star in 2006 and, as a member of the group Bling, lost out to Jedward in the 2001 finals of the Irish Song for Eurovision), and an actor.