ANNE Marie Dunphy's pony dressage squad of Rachel Carr, Martha Jobling-Purser, Cillian Curran, and Oscar O'Connor scored 201.72% to place seventh in the team competition at the FEI Dressage European Championships for Ponies in Budapest, Hungary today (Thursday).

Cillian Curran (14) and Blokland’s Hoeve’s Amor were the pathfinders yesterday (Wednesday) and they got the team off to a very solid start scoring 65.34%. Rachel Carr (14) and the palomino Calelvador May Blossom were second in scoring 67.65% to move Team Ireland up from ninth to seventh in the overnight rankings.

In 2016 Joe Reynolds, then chairman of Dressage Ireland, announced he would introduce and sponsor 'Trailblazer' classes at the Irish national dressage championships and national winter finals to give greater opportunities to young riders across the island of Ireland. The diminutive pony rider Oscar O'Connor raised the biggest cheer at the 2018 national dressage championships when winning the novice category one championship having won the the 'Trailblazer' classes at the national winter finals earlier that year.

Two years later, O'Connor, now aged 12, found himself competing for Team Ireland at the Pony Europeans in Hungary. Never one to spurn an opportunity, he maintained the team momentum by scoring 66.414% with Top Hero 2.

Anchor rider, British-based Martha Jobling-Purser (15) was bred for the job. Her grand-aunt Juliet Jobling-Purser and Jenny were best of the Irish placing seventh in the individual three-day eventing competition at the Mexico Olympic Games in 1968.

Juliet and Tiki placed 11th individually at the ladies world show jumping championships in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1970. Fifty years on and Martha would score 67.65% with Valido’s Starlight to equal Rachel Carr's total and seal a top seven completion for Ireland.

Martha and Rachel are best of the Irish in the individual standings after the team competition in equal 25th place with Oscar O'Connor in 34th and Cillian Curran in 41st place.

Germany scored 232.77% to win the team gold. The Danish team claimed the silver medal on a 222.17% total, narrowly ahead of The Netherlands on 221.80% for bronze.

Press release: Paul Nolan