THE second qualifier in this year’s Young Eventhorse Series (YES!), which is supported by Horse Sport Ireland and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, was hosted by the Stephenson family at Tullylish, Co Armagh, last Tuesday week when, on a very hot day, a couple of riders had a cooling, if unwanted, fall in the water.

Britain’s Tim Downes and Andrea Smith were suitability and potential judges of the ridden display, Castlewellan’s James McEvoy was the corresponding jumping assessor over the Adam Stevenson-designed track and Joanne Jarden, who had been on the ground juries for the CCI4*-L and the CCIYH2*-S at Millstreet, judged horses’ conformation and movement in the presentation phase of the young horse classes. The seemingly tireless Dora Beacom was the day’s jumping judge.

Competitors converged on Tullylish from far and wide but it was the very locally-based Steven Smith who took the day’s riding honours with a double in the five-year-old classes. The Gilford producer will be bidding to follow up his first and second place finishes in last year’s Dublin Horse Show five-year-old young event horse class (for which this series is a conduit) when he rode CJO Kann Surprise and Strangford.

In Section A, Smith won with Stephen Grieve’s Irish Sport Horse gelding Greenhall Gold Dust (302.5 points) on whom he had finished fourth at Forth Mountain seven days earlier. Unsurprisingly, this Dignified van’t Zorgvliet chesnut, who has 25 Show Jumping Ireland points to his credit, was bred in Co Wicklow by Derry Rothwell out of the Cruising mare Greenhall Dot who, in turn, was out of Cailin Deas (by Mister Lord).

Co Limerick’s Dominic Furnell qualified in second here with Oliver Walsh’s home-bred ISH gelding Maslows Time To Shine (298.1). This bay son of Glasgow vant Merelsnest is out the Silvano mare Mini Cruzano who represented the ISH Studbook at Lanaken in 2013 and 2014 and is a half-sister to the Lux Z gelding Lux Like Cruise (a CCI3*-L winner recently in Germany) among others. Casey Webb secured the third qualifying ticket on the winner’s stable companion, The Jazz Club’s ISH mare Tykillen Jazz (295.5), a chesnut by Orestus.

In Section B, Furnell again had to settle for second but this time on his own previously-qualified ISH mare Ballycahane Silver Athena (303.1), a daughter of Pointilliste. Here, Smith’s comfortable winner was Karen McKee’s ISH gelding Carrickview Calvani (310.6), a bay gelding by Ramiro B who was bred in Co Armagh by John Haughey out of the Heraldik mare Partout.

Co Westmeath’s Chloe Fagan was third on Charlie Walsh’s previously-qualified once-raced thoroughbred mare Gervada (298.5) with Gwen Scott claiming the third ticket on Wallis Birch’s home-bred gelding First Glance (290), an Obelix full-brother to First Rate, a top-class working hunter on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Win for Ryan

With Connemaras, Irish Draughts, show jumpers and young event horses to qualify for Dublin, Diarmuid Ryan has been a busy man of late and here, on his sole ride, booked a ticket with Gerry Whyte’s ISH gelding Dollar Man (266.8 points), winner of Section A of the four-year-old class at this YES! qualifier.

Bred in Co Westmeath by James Byrne, this son of Loughehoe Guy is out of Carravilla Robin (by Parkmore Bobby) who traces back to one of Derek Rothwell’s mares, Greenhall Flowing River. Dollar Man finished sixth in his four-year-old lightweight hunter class at Balmoral under the owner’s daughter Edel Whyte after which he moved into the care of Ryan.

Dominic Furnell’s run of seconditis started here on his own ISH gelding Ballycahane Jaguar (265.6), a chesnut home-bred son of Jaguar Mail out of Ballycahane Lucy (by Harlequin du Carel) while Jonny Mulligan will be heading down to Dublin with Sandra Hamilton’s ISH gelding Colano (263.9), a Colandro bay bred locally in the Orchard Counry by Helen Troughton out of her Master Imp mare Silken Imp.

Two tickets were awarded in Section B, the first going to the Alex Donohoe-ridden ISH gelding Kealanine Chief (283.4), and the second to the John Bannon-owned and ridden ISH gelding You And Me (272.4). The latter, a bay by the Selle Francais stallion Kingdom, is out of the Colourfield mare Crosshue Lass whose previous produce include the Bonnie Prince gelding Prince Mayo (CCI3*).

Kealanine Chief arrived at Donohoe’s Gorey yard a couple of weeks before Forth Mountain as Sian Coleman, who had done all the early work with the horse, eases herself back into a competitive mode following the birth of son Fred.

A bay from the final crop of the thoroughbred stallion Fruits Of Love, Pat Coleman’s Kealanine Chief was bred in Co Cork by Richard O’Regan out of the West Coast Cavalier mare Kealanine Dreamer. “He’ll go to Scarteen, as the Colemans like to support that qualifier, but won’t go to the last one (Rincoola on Tuesday, July 4th). I’ll do a bit of show jumping with him before Dublin,” said Donohoe who has her own OBOS Quality 004 mare, Martello Medusa, a Monart Sales graduate to qualify.

“I found it very interesting to judge,” said Tim Downes of the competition. “It would be great if other nations would follow your format to establish better basic training of horses.”

His fellow ridden display judge, Anthea Smith, commented: “I think the concept is excellent. There were some really quality horses and ‘horse friendly’ riding that will ensure the young event horses judged today should hopefully develop further and will have a bright future.”