TWO Irish Junior riders shared the lead after dressage in the CCI1*-Intro at last weekend’s Ballindenisk international horse trials. Maeve Deverell dropped out of contention with Annaharvey Dunowen but Ciara O’Connor ran out the narrow winner on Ashwood Rio.

En route to victory with her aunt Sharon’s home-bred Irish Sport Horse gelding, O’Connor picked up 0.8 of a cross-country time penalty for a total of 27, while Ireland-based US international rider Gillian Beale King completed on her first phase score with Lawrence Patterson’s six-year-old Zangersheide stallion Dorus Heldenlaan Z (27.6).