ROBBIE Kearns, stable jockey at Richard Ames’ Belline Equestrian rode four of the Co Kilkenny yard’s young inmates at Grove last Sunday.

He won Section A of the Equine Warehouse-sponsored EI100 on Belline Gucci, won and placed fifth in Section B on Belline Thistle Bethelasttime and Belline JFH Golden Spear respectively and finished third in the Knight Frank EI110 on Belline Ames To Please.

Ames had to be pleased with these results, especially as all four Irish Sport Horses proved themselves on form ahead of this weekend’s Kilguilkey International Horse Trials, which he is sponsoring through SemaLease and where Kearns is also riding Belline Castle Fifty Seven.

The Grove four completed on their dressage scores. On board the seven-year-old Watermill Swatch gelding Belline Gucci (26.5 penalties), Kearns led throughout Section A of the EI100, in which there were 25 runners of whom two failed to complete. One combination withdrew before the cross-country phase, where the other retired at fence six. It was good to see this return to form of the Patrick Hough-bred Belline Gucci, who won an EI110 roughly a year ago at Crecora.

There were 25 starters also in Section B, where one was eliminated show jumping and there was a retirement and an elimination over the fixed fences. Here, too, Kearns led from the outset on the six-year-old Grafenstolz mare Belline Thistle Bethelastime (27.3 penalties), who rounded off last season winning the Michael Leonard CCI1*-Intro for five and six-year-olds at Ballindenisk in September. Making his seasonal debut here under Kearns, Belline JFH Golden Spear finished fifth (31.5).

Two of the Ennis sisters, Sarah and Nicola, finished first and second in the 20-runner Hoofprints Innovations EI90. The former comfortably claimed the honours on her winning dressage score with Lambertstown Stud’s ISH gelding LSL The Melody Maker, who was having his third start. This five-year-old was bred by Amelia Comiskey, who stands his BES-registered sire Sir Harry, out of her traditionally-bred Imperial Hights mare, Diamond High. Nicola also completed on her first phase score with the Connemara gelding Illane Boss (28), a five-year-old son of Ardgaineen Rebel, whose only other start ended early, when he and Ennis parted company at Rosanna (3).