THIRD the previous weekend at Milchem, Godfrey Gibbons and DS Are You Murchu recorded their second win in this year’s Berts Properties starter series as the Western Region of Eventing Ireland moved to the Galway Equestrian Centre on Monday for the fourth leg.

Gibbons led throughout the Derryronane Stud five-year-old class with Liam Lynskey’s home-bred Irish Sport Horse gelding by DS Are You With Me, completing on his Luca Bortolamei-awarded dressage score (49.5 points).

Also finishing on their flatwork marks to place second and third were Hannah Gordon on Lynskey’s DS Hashtag 32 (46.5) and one of the series’ sponsors, Donnacha Anhold, with Rushfield Gortermore Colandro (45). Jumping penalties proved costly for Tim MacDonagh and Aoife McCabe who had occupied those spots after dressage on Hollypark Zirrocco (48.5) and Air Mail (48) respectively.

DS Murchu, who is out of the Cruising For Chics mare DS Murchus Chics, qualified under Jason Doerflinger for the four-year-old young event horse class at the Dublin Horse Show last August. Happily for Gibbons and his owners, the fifth and final qualifying leg of this series takes place tomorrow (at the Claremorris Equestrian Centre) as he has three rides today at Tyrella for the start of the 2024 Eventing Ireland season.

Array of stallions

This class is sponsored by the above-mentioned Liam Lynskey and his good friend Matt Gordon under the Derryronane Stud banner. The Swinford-based stud stands an array of stallions – the Connemaras Black Shadow and Whitethorn Buachaill Bui, the Irish Draught DS Ballagh Bouncer, the ISH stallions DS Shotgun and DS Are You With Me, the Traditional ISH stallion Cruising For Chics and the Warmblood pony stallion Hans.

Matt Gordon has a livery, production and sales yard in Crossmolina from where he and his daughter Hannah, the Western Region’s PRO, compete and where his son, international show jumper Jonathan Gordon, started his riding career. Matt and Liam were first brought together by the ID stallion Moylough Bouncer (sire of DS Ballagh Bouncer) in 2010 while Hannah joined the team three years later when Liam asked her to ride the Connemara stallions Black Shadow and Cashelbay Chip.

There is rarely a weekend when the Derryronane Stud/Gordon team are not on the road doing something and their interests are varied from showing to show jumping, working hunters, hunting and eventing.