ONE horse not for sale according to Co Wexford’s Sharon O’Connor is Ashwood Rio who won the five-year-old event horse Masters class at the Lisgarvan House International last Friday evening under the owner/breeder’s 16-year-old niece, Ciara O’Connor.

Sponsored by Yeomanstown Stud, Appleby Jewellers and the South Leinster Region of Eventing Ireland, this class saw six mares among the 15 starters who were selected following pathway training days at Clonmahon House. The highest-placed mare in fourth was the Cathal Daniels-ridden Tullibards Be The One (151) but she finished nearly 10 points adrift of the top three who had little between them.

The O’Connor-partnered Irish Sport Horse gelding Ashwood Rio claimed the honours on 162 points while Chloe Fagan filled the runner-up slot on Deravarra Van Gogh (161). Clare Abbott finished third with MT Kenobis Touch (160.5) who placed fourth in the four-year-old Masters class last season and is a winner twice this year under Eventing Ireland rules. The winner is by Dignified van’t Zorgvliet out of the Ramiro B mare Pikeur.

Ashwood Rio has had two runs in EI100 (J) classes this season but made his mark by winning the five-year-old section of the Dubarry Burghley young event horse qualifier at Millstreet in late May.

He also qualified for the young event horse class at Dublin but was eliminated in the Main Arena. “He just froze at the double of Trakehners,” said Sharon. “He’d never seen anything like that before but I should have done my homework better as they have been there a while.

“Ciara has really benefitted from working all summer with Richard Sheane at Cooley Farm, where she gets lots of tips from Amanda Goldsbury, and also from the training days at Clonmahon where the facilities are second to none. Ciara is starting Fifth Year in school now but will work at Cooley whenever she can and I’m holding on to Rio so she will have the opportunity to bring him on further. We’ll start by heading to Burghley for the young event horse final.”