LAST Saturday, when the Northern Region of Eventing Ireland staged the last of this year’s four Lightsource BP one-day events at the Corbett family’s lovely Tyrella estate, Mags Kinsella’s Sport Horse mare Rioghan Rua returned to winning ways under Cathal Daniels.

Team silver medallist at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, the 15-year-old home-bred by Jack Of Diamonds last visited the winner’s enclosure in June 2019 when Daniels partnered the chesnut to victory, on her dressage score, in the CCIU25*-L at Bramham. Two months later, the combination won individual bronze at the European championships in Luhmühlen. Last October, following an expensive trip to Tokyo where they didn’t get to start in the Olympic Games, Daniels and Rioghan Rua finished 13th in the CCIO4*-S at Aachen and filled the same position the following month in the CCI5*-L at Pau. They made their seasonal debut at Crecora (1) earlier this month, finishing sixth in the EI115 (Open) and won at a similar level on Saturday when their total of 33.4 included two cross-country time penalties.

The busy Ian Cassells finished second on the EI110 national champion, Rosconnell Alto (35), just ahead of Tegan White McMorrow and the 17-year-old Texan Style (36.8).

“It was great that she won,” said Kinsella of the hugely popular Rioghan Rua. “The plan for the mare now is Luhmühlen and then possibly Chatsworth. Hopefully, she will be in the mix for the World Championships (at Pratoni in September) but, if she doesn’t go there, she’ll to Burghley.”

Kinsella returned to competition at Crecora where she finished 11th of 24 in the EI90 on Magheracorran Masterkee.

While there were relatively few problems in jumping over the Adam Stevenson-designed cross-country courses at the first three Tyrella events, such was not the case on Saturday when there were eliminations and retirements at all levels with slip-ups on the flat in the lower graded classes.