Success for Whyte and LadyCraft

THE Puissance mare LadyCraft must like Punchestown as, prior to landing the Irish Sport Horse YH Eventing Studbook EI110 class for six-year-olds there on Saturday, her only other career win had come in an EI100 at the Co Kildare track last October.

Fourth in the previous leg of the series at Crecora to Nicola Ennis and Killossery Kitten (third here on 36.2), owner/rider Christopher Whyte and LadyCraft occupied that same spot after dressage on Saturday. However, with the only double clear inside the time, they moved to the top of the leaderboard where they had four points in hand over Ian Cassells and the very consistent Brookwood Supersable whose total of 36 included 5.2 cross-country time penalties.

Whyte and LadyCraft, who was bred by Rosemary Ponsonby out of the unraced Warcraft Kate, have qualified through the Young Eventhorse Series for the RDS national Junior/Young Rider event horse championship at Lambertstown on Tuesday.

Successful at Kilguilkey (2) on just their second outing as a combination, Leila Barker and Anna Maher’s 12-year-old Co Cork-bred Dutch Warmblood mare Erin followed up in the EI110 here despite adding 2.4 cross-country time penalties to their fifth-placed dressage score of 29.8.

Elizabeth Power was one of just two riders to beat the clock over the fixed fences on Calinka GVH Z but she had to settle for second on 33 penalties, having picked up four in the show jumping phase. Just seven of the 23 starters managed to leave all the coloured poles intact.

Having established a clear lead in the dressage phase, Sharon Reilly and her 14-year-old Inocent gelding Until Proven Guilty had nearly 25 points in hand over their closest rivals at the conclusion of the EI110 (Open) where three of the five starters had problems across the country.

There were no problems with the cross-country fences in the 16-runner EI110 (J) but there was one retirement, as there was in the dressage phase, while two combinations were eliminated when parting company in the show jumping ring.

Hannah Lawlor led after dressage on her mother Aideen’s 13-year-old gelding Clougheen Cody (26.8) but dropped back to fifth with a fence down show jumping. However, she recorded the fastest cross-country round in the class to record her first success at this level on a total of 33.6. For the second Saturday in succession, Susana Mullen filled the runner-up spot on Miracle (38).

There were seven starters in the EI110 (P) but, in recording their first success as a combination, Ava Dowley and Margaret Bowe’s 12-year-old Ganty Blazer mare Cullion Kemira left their rivals well in their wake when completing on their dressage score (32).

Only two amateurs took on the Punchestown EI110 challenge. There was little between them throughout but, with one less fence down show jumping, Noelle Reidy recorded her second win of the season on her 15-year-old black gelding, Ballinhassig (62.7).