9 February 2023 - Flipbook - Page 74
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HORSEWEEK
FARMWEEK
AUGUST 18 2022
Declan provides ‘ultimate quality’
T
HE eventing fraternity headed west on
Saturday to the Castle Irvine Estate in
Irvinestown for the
latest Northern Region fixture. There were folk there
enjoying their first taste of
Necarne, others who were
reminiscing
about
their
memories of yester years
but for everyone, it was a
wonderful occasion even
when things didn’t quite go
according to plan. There is
just something very magical
about the venue - from the
pristine Courtyard to the
beautiful Walled Garden,
home to the show jumping,
to the incredible crosscountry tracks, which take
you through the woods and
copses amongst the acres of
beautiful mature trees.
Vina Buller, assisted by her
team of Tony McManmon,
Noel Fitzpatrick, Stephen Orr
and Stephen Dunlop, designed and built six fabulous
tracks, which were fair,
testing and educational and
have received many accolades from far and wide. Great
work was done by Richard
Nesbitt with the aggravator
to ensure the best possible
ground conditions. A tanker
of water was located at the
finish of cross-country to
facilitate the washing down
and cooling off of all horses
on completion.
The spectacle of the HSI
Four-Year-Old Eventing Development class took place
mid-morning. The class was
judged independently by
seasoned eventers, Karen
Dixon and Penny Sangster
and represented a wonderful
opportunity to showcase
young Event horses with
the backdrop of the iconic
Castle. These horses had
to perform a three-minute
‘show’ and then proceed
immediately to the jumping
phases, where they were
well and truly tested by the
tracks. Paul Nolan deserves
enormous credit for his very
long stint of duty, keeping the
mass gathering well informed
of breeding, progress and
placings.
In the end, the honours
went to Alyssa O’Neill of
Newbridge, Co Kildare riding
the Liam Lynskey bred ‘DS
Candescent’. This gelding,
co-owned by Alyssa and
Deborah McCann, is by
‘Sligo Candy Boy’, out of
‘Largan Lady Cruise’. The
EI 90 AMATEUR: Rhonda Hall and ‘Red Hot Chili Piper’ had
their first EI win in Castle Irvine’s EI 90 Amateur class.
(FW33-542AH)
PICTURES: Anne Hughes
combination has already
successfully competed under
Eventing Ireland rules on four
occasions and are now set
for Dublin to compete in the
Four-Year-Old event horse
class, having qualified at
Tullylish in July.
Second place went to
Elizabeth Hayden with ‘Listoke Papillon’, a gelding bred
by Raymond Gogan by the
Holsteiner stallion ‘Caricello’,
out of ‘Bridgehouse Butterfly’.
Elizabeth bought him as a
yearling and broke him last
year. She has, justifiably, high
hopes for a successful future
ahead.
Allison Mercer represented
HSI at the presentation
when owners, breeders and
riders were all recognised.
Northern Region wishes
these combinations every
success at the Final of the
Development League, which
takes place at Ballindennisk
International in September.
Declan Cullen proved his
worth in the EI 120 class, as
he moved ‘Ultimate Quality’
up to this level and was the
only pairing in the class to
keep all Aaron McCusker’s
coloured poles intact.
This eight-year-old gelding,
which he jointly owns with
Marina O’Hare, sired by
‘OBOS Quality’ won the EI
115 class at Necarne 1 back in
May, followed by another win
at Kilguilkey.
They were followed in
second place by veterinarian,
Michael O’Toole riding his
nine-year-old ‘Diarado’ bred
gelding, ‘First Obama’.
SPECIAL WIN: Lee Bloomfield won the EI 90 class with ‘Totally
Special’ at Castle Irvine. (FW33-541AH)
The EI 115 Open class saw
Meath’s Nicola Ennis rise
to the fore with Michele
Dennigan’s ‘Out of Print’, an
eight-year-old gelding by ‘Out
of Touch’, who placed third
on their last visit to Necarne
in May. Steven Smith was
pipped to the post by 0.3 on
‘Hi Happy Harry’, a ‘Porsch’
gelding who took the win
last week at Loughanmore.
The owner, Terry Johnston,
was working tirelessly as
Technical Advisor for the
event and missed most of his
horse’s round.
Scarva rider, Suzanne Hagan
had a particularly good
event, where she was partnering three horses. She
took the win in the EI 115 on
board ‘Californian Wolf’, a
10-year-old gelding owned by
Kim O’Gorman. They added
just time penalties in their
jumping phases to give them
a 2.6 margin over second
placed Robyn McCluskey and
her ‘Askoll Peter Pan’ mare,
‘Carsonstown Alice’.
Steven Smith was again
in the honours in the EI 110
Open class, where he had a
runaway victory on Virginia
Maguire’s Thoroughbred gelding
‘Handsome
Starr’,
having been awarded the
second best dressage score
of the day, 16.8, by Dublinbased judge, David Lee.
Despite lowering two rails,
they still had an 11.5 margin
over Anita Doherty on
Samantha Dale’s lovely ‘Ars
Vivendi’ mare, ‘Threeseas’,
who provided the only clear
show jumping round in the
class.
Steven took his second
win of the day on ‘MMF
Churchill’ in the EI 110 class.
This gelding, sired by ‘OBOS
Quality’, is owned by Carol
Moorhead and led from the
outset, just adding some
cross-country time penalties
to their first phase mark.
Suzanne Hagan occupied the
runner up spot on ‘Karolita
O’, owned by Anne Magee
and Jane Hancock, finishing
almost 18 points adrift.
It was particularly pleasing
to have the recent Junior
European Silver Medallist,
Godfrey Gibbons, on Necarne’s hallowed turf, where
he again showcased his
eventing talent by winning
the Junior EI 110 class on
Marie Dunne’s six-year-old
mare ‘Milchem Miami’, with
almost 11 penalties spare
over Anna White riding her
mother’s ‘Kilcoltrim Dora’,
who is seldom out of the top
three.
Loughinisland rider, Molly
O’Connor, made it two wins in
a row with ‘Coolnaleen Rebel’
in the EI 110P class, having
led from the outset. They
have certainly posted some
fabulous results since taking
over this ride from Godfrey
Gibbons last year. Another
young accomplished pony
rider, Erin Mathieson from
Dungannon, took second
place with ‘Longwood Dawn’.
There were just six starters
in the EI 100 Amateur, where
two riders finished neck
and neck on a score of 30.
Finishing closest to the
optimum time and taking first
place and her first red rosette
was Christine McVeigh on
‘Keeford Elamo’. Christine is
a full time physiotherapist
with the NHS and describes
herself as a true amateur,
just enjoying what the sport
has to offer. She has been
competing
her
legend,
‘Smartie’, for eight years
and is hoping to compete at
the National Championships
in September. Second place
went to last week’s Loughanmore winner, Bernadette
Curry and her Thoroughbred
gelding, ‘Teo’s Chance’ who,
again, fulfil the criteria of a
true Amateur.
Newcastle member, Alex
O’Hare, had a very good day at
the office with two wins. She
enjoyed her seventh win this
year in the EI 100P class with
‘Greylands Diamond Girl’,
having moved up two places
from dressage. Sam Hamilton
had been the first phase
leader with ‘Cahanagh Black
Flyer’, but had to settle for
second place after dropping
two fences in show jumping.
Alex secured her second
win in the EI 100T class with
Sarah Hughes’s ‘Alcatraz’.
This was the combination’s
first outing and they were
the only finishers in the three
starter class.
There were back to back
wins in the EI 100J class for
Abby Cummiskey and Sandi
Thompson’s fabulous horse,
‘Crackerjack V111’, previously
campaigned by Sandi’s daughter, Tola.
This current partnership
has many wins to their credit
and made history on Saturday
by gaining the best dressage
score of the day, 15.8 awarded by David Lee. Rachael
Broome occupied the second
slot with ‘Nature’s Blossom’,
another combination seldom
out of the top three.
Over 20 competitors took
on the challenge of the EI
100 class, where... surprise,
surprise... Elaine O’Connor
took centre stage with Helen
Fletcher’s ‘Sir Barnabus’,
a 13-year-old gelding by
‘Cyrano’. This combination
definitely represent the face
of compatibility, suitability
and consistency. It was a case
of keeping it in the family,
as Elaine’s husband, David,
took second place on Katie
McKee’s gelding, ‘Summit’
who added nothing to their
flatwork mark.
There was a well subscribed
EI 90 Amateur class, where
there was a popular win
for firefighter, Rhonda Hall
and her 11-year-old ‘Amiro’
gelding, ‘Red Hot Chilli Piper’.
They added just time faults
to their dressage score in a
class where show jumping
was exceptionally influential.
There was another popular
win, this time in the EI
90 class, where 14-yearold Newry schoolboy, Lee
Bloomfield, claimed gold on
Sonya Murphy’s 11-year-old
‘Totally Special’, finishing on
his first phase score. This
mare is by the Thoroughbred
stallion ‘Sirillio’ and has
been under saddle with Lee
on the last three outings.
Silver medallist, Godfrey Gibbons, took second place with
‘Kilnamac Kasu’, moving up
one placing from his last
outing at Ballindennisk.
Celebrations
are
still
continuing in Dromore for
13-year-old Charlotte Betts,
who gained top marks from
dressage judge, John Lyttle,
in the EI 90P class with her
super little pony, ‘Akaroa
Bittersweet’. They kept both
jumping phases clean and
finished inside the time to
take the red rosette. Rachel
Fletcher followed almost
nine points behind with
‘Peninsula Clover’, a sixyear-old mare by ‘Corlough
Clover’. They added just a
few time penalties across
country to give them a safe
second placing.
The EI 90 Training class
had seven entries. Top of
the leaderboard was Heidi
Brabazon with her five-yearold gelding, ‘Ahaziah’ making
its debut under EI rules.
Second place went to Cara
McDonald riding her Irish
Draught-bred mare, ‘Aharlow
Gem’.
A delighted Lucy Orr picked
up her third placed rosette
on her very first foray into
eventing with ‘Jazzy Susie’,
previously partnered by her
sister Emma-Jane. Lucy’s
dad, Stephen, worked hard at
Necarne assisting Vina and
her team with the Course
Building.
Huge thanks go to Derek
Keys and Castle Irvine Estate
for allowing Northern Region
to use this amazing facility.
Thanks to Vina Buller, Tony
McManmon, Noel Fitzpatrick,
Stephen Orr and all the team
at Castle Irvine Estate, who
have worked very hard to
create such educational opportunities for these horses
and riders.
Thanks to all the officials
and volunteers, many of
whom were ‘double jobbing’
to get the positions covered,
such is the dedication
and enthusiasm for this
wonderful sport.
Special thanks to Nichola
Wray for her culinary delights
and to Richard Harkness
for his lovely gesture of
providing a mass donation
of ice lollies - perfect for the
weather conditions.
The next Northern Region fixture is a Derby at
Ballyvannon on Saturday,
August 27, with classes at 1m,
90cm and 75/80cm. Entries
can be texted to Dora on
07876 758979 with payment
by Pay to einorthernregion@
gmail.com.
The next National event
takes place at Vesey Lodge on
September 3, courtesy of the
Wilson family.
RESULTS
Saturday, August 13
HSI Four-Year-Old
Development League:
1) Alyssa O’Neill, DS
Candescent; 2) Elizabeth
Hayden, Listoke Papillon;
3) Lucy McIlroy, Imperial
Wonder; 4) Godfrey Gibbons,
Bonitas Influence; 5) Nicky
Roncoroni, Dermish OBI; 6)
Jennifer Burke, Tymphanys
Last Song.
EI 120: 1) Declan Cullen,
Ultimate Quality; 2) Michael
O’Toole, First Obama; 3)
Declan Cullen, Seavaghan
Ash; 4) Alex Houston, Minty
Imp; 5) Heidi Brabazon, Red
Ace; 6) Katherine O’Hare,
Keonan Hero.
EI 115 Open: 1) Nicola
Ennis, Out of Print; 2) Steven
Smith, Hi Happy Harry; 3)
Emma Newsam, Magennis.
EI 115: 1) Suzanne Hagan,
Californian Wolf; 2) Robyn
McCluskey, Carsonstown
Alice; 3) Jill McGettigan,
Watermill Hollie; 4) Rosie
Alcorn, Chrysanthos; 5)
Colin Halliday, GHS Calexico;
6) Nicola Ennis, Killossery
Kitten.
EI 110 Open: 1) Steven
Smith, Handsome Starr; 2)
EI 100 AMATEUR: Christine McVeigh had her first EI win with
her veteran ‘Keeford Elamo’ in the EI 100 Amateur section at
Castle Irvine, while ‘Elamo’ was enjoying his first win for 10
years. (FW33-538AH)