THE McCusker family hosted last Sunday’s round of the DAFM eventing autumn development series at The Meadows, where the best-supported of the sponsored combined training classes was the AE90 for four-year-olds, won by David O’Connor on Tullymurry All Or Nothing.

This traditionally-bred Irish Sport Horse mare, who is by the Irish Draught stallion King Of Mourne, was bred in Co Down by her rider. The grey is out of the unraced Zagreb mare Sioux City whose family, in its further removes, features the multiple top-class chase winners, Bachelor’s Hall and Aquilifier.

“This is my first competition since I got back from filming in mid-September, so the mare had most of the summer off,” revealed O’Connor who, on Saturday, also rode two horses in the five-year-old class, Molly Goodwin’s Dutch Warmblood gelding Our Dream W and his own Irish Draught mare Inisharoan Orlagh.

“She is owned by Abbie Connor, who is studying radiography (at the Derry campus of Ulster University) and so is away most of the week. She has each weekend and every second Friday off and spends most of her time here at Tullymurry. She actually plaited the mare for Sunday’s competition! I’ll start her off next year through the Flexi Eventing series and then do some age classes with her.”

David O’Connor on Tullymurry All Or Nothing, AE90 Four-year-old class winners \ Tori O'Connor Photography

Asked if he will be seeking more of the DAFM-sponsored prize money at CoilÓg next Sunday, O’Connor answered with a definite ‘no’. “That’s the morning after the Northern Region annual awards ball, so we won’t be going anywhere,” said David, whose table is guaranteed to be one of the most glamorous in the Stormont Hotel next Saturday night.

Hopefully, there won’t be any such social distractions for the O’Connors, and others, when the Baileys Horse Feeds Flexi Eventing Series, which runs for six weeks, commences at The Meadows on Saturday, January 11th.

On Sunday, O’Connor and Tullymurry All Or Nothing completed on their dressage score (29 penalties) to finish ahead of Co Meath’s Sarah Ennis on ‘Sunny’ (29.25), her home-bred Irish Sport Horse gelding by Colandro. Here, Victoria Clarke placed third with Orlagh Halliday’s TIH gelding Road To Galway (30.25), a Road To Happiness roan, who already has a working hunter championship to his credit.

Halliday’s husband Colin led the 16-runner field after the Claire Ewing-judged dressage phase on the ISH gelding Apple Jacques (28.75), but had to settle for fifth when the chesnut son of Vancouver lowered one of the coloured poles for a total of 32.75. Seven other combinations erred over the Aaron McCusker-designed show jumping track, while one withdrew after dressage.

Five-year-olds

Ennis had two rides in the AE100 for five-year-olds, but here she had to settle for third on her KWPN-registered gelding Ordonnay (27.5 penalties), a bay from the second crop of Jardonnay VDL, and for fourth with Joan O’Connor’s ISH mare DS Are You Calypso (28), a grey by DS Are You With Me.

Also double-handed in this 13-strong class, but with two ISH geldings, was Gilford’s Steven Smith, who claimed a comfortable all-the-way victory on You Neek (20.25) and finished fifth, also on his Vanda Stewart-awarded dressage score, with Lachain Lance (30). In spite of a fence down show jumping, Erin Mathieson slotted into second with her mother Hilary’s ISH mare Flamenco Gypsy (27.25), a Je t’Aime Flamenco bay on whom she won an EI100 (J) at Frankfort Stud in September.

Owned by the rider’s wife Jenny, the highly-regarded You Neek has just recently returned to work, following his win in the five-year-old young event horse championship at the RDS in August. Not too surprisingly, the striking dark bay will be aimed at six-year-old eventing classes next season, when he will also take in some show jumping competitions.

You Neek, who qualified for the Dublin Horse Show when winning at Forth Mountain, was purchased as a three-year-old from that good judge Stuart Whittle. He was bred by John Kearney, who used to stand his sire, Diamond Roller, and still has the gelding’s dam, the Camiro de Haar Z mare Veronicas Camario, a full-sister to Dream Roller (CSI5*) and a half-sister to the Touchdown gelding Touchalier (CIC3*).

Kearney has retained the dam’s 2020 daughter Ganesh Royale (by Ganesh Hero Z), who had a filly foal this year by Zangersheide Stud’s Allroad 2000 Z, but will now be going jumping, also her unnamed two-year-old Diamond Roller filly, and this year’s foal, a filly by Livello.

“I don’t mind having fillies,” revealed the Co Louth breeder, who appears to have lost his ‘grá’ for standing stallions. “The only people abused as much as stallion men are politicians!” asserted Kearney, although he continues to keep an eye on Diamond Roller-sired horses, such as the 2017 gelding Cooley Coraghy Diamond, who was purchased for €25,000 by Richard Sheane at the 2020 Go For Gold Sale and has won a CCI2*-S and a CCI3*-S in the United States.

Most recently a close-up fourth in the CCI3*-L at Maryland under Kim Severson, Cooley Coraghy Diamond is one of nine sale graduates, whose photograph appears on the back of this year’s Go For Gold Sale catalogue.

Six and seven-year-olds

Ennis rounded off her trip north on Sunday with victory in the AE110 class for six and seven-year-olds on her ISH gelding Dolmen Stellor Design, who has 98 SJI points to his credit and, on his last two eventing starts this year, finished second in the CCI2*-S at Lisgarvan and eighth in the CCI2*-L at Ballindenisk. He was bred by Jack Murphy out of the Dolmen Deja Vu mare Dolmen Dimension.

Ennis and the 2017 Quantino bay, who was second at Lisgarvan and Milchem before topping the leaderboard at Wexford Equestrian, completed on their Stewart-awarded winning dressage score (26.75 penalties). This saw the combination comfortably hold off Lexi Kilfeather with her mother Everina’s Selle Français gelding Haschich de Talma (31.25), a seven-year-old bay son of Adagio de Talma.

With these placings and wins, Ennis has already amassed plenty of prize money through the series and it’s good to see the country’s professional riders being rewarded for their efforts.

Nicola Ennis slotted into third with her ex-racehorse Devils Cape, a six-year-old gelding by Canford Cliffs, who failed to finish in the first six in five runs over hurdles for the Gordon Elliott yard, but has been placed at EI90 and EI100 level for Ennis. The Co Meath rider was lying second with Corbally Mountain View, but this ISH gelding was one of six starters who picked up penalty points in front of the day’s jumping judge, Katy Saunders, and dropped to sixth on a total of 34.75.

Just three combinations started (four entries) in the DAFM development series AE100 for six and seven-year-old ponies and little separated the trio at the conclusion of the two phases.

The first two, Eve Lindsay on her mother Joy’s Connemara gelding Glenomore Tom (29.5 penalties), a six-year-old Gwennic de Goariva bay, and Hugh Kelly with his mother Bronagh Kennedy’s traditionally-bred Fairyhouse In A Pickle (30.5), a similarly-aged mare by the same sire, both completed on their dressage scores.

Kirsty Greene’s third-place total with the 2017 British-bred mare Our Girl (31.25), a seven-year-old chesnut by KL Mac, included four show jumping penalties.

Cancelled because of Storm Ashley in mid-October, the CoilÓg leg of the DAFM eventing autumn development series has been re-scheduled to Sunday next, November 17th. Entries close at 12 noon on Tuesday.