ONLY Irish riders Lucy Latta and Ian Cassells could surpass and separate British Olympian Tom McEwen’s three rides in the first phase of the Noel C Duggan Structural Steel CCI4*-S at Millstreet. Latta led the way with the Burghley-bound RCA Patron Saint after she and the Crampton family’s 15-year-old bay gelding were the only combination to be awarded a sub-30 score by the Ground Jury of Emma Flegman (AUS), Agnieszka Mossakowska (POL) and Faith Ponsonby (IRL).

The closest McEwen came to their mark of 29.9 was with the Irish Sport Horse Brookfield Future News, second on 31.3, while Cassells lay a fraction further back with his championship ride Millridge Atlantis on 31.5. McEwen occupied fourth and fifth on the leaderboard with the Irish Sport Horse The Fieldmaster (31.7) and the German-bred Isa (32.6) respectively, while Australia’s Isabel English slotted into sixth on Cil Dara Bombay S (33).