A LARGE number of riders of all ages made their way to Tyrella last Saturday for the annual two-phase event of show jumping and cross-country run by the Northern Region of Eventing Ireland.

The rain which appeared mid-morning was gone before the start of the 80cms classes but it was bitterly cold all day with the wind whipping in off the Irish Sea.

When it came down to the action, there were eliminations at all levels during the day, some over the Aaron McCusker-designed show jumping tracks, where the two refusals rule was strictly implemented, as well as over Adam Stevenson’s cross-country courses where competitors commenced their rounds in the sand dunes.

Over the fixed fences, the opening 1m class was divided according to speed with the first section confined to riders who wished to compete at EI’s Novice speed of 520mpm while the second catered for those who preferred to run at 475mpm (Pre Novice).

From close to 50 starters in Section A, two competitors, both from racing families, completed on a zero score. Newtownabbey’s Holly Ross finished two seconds under the optimum time to claim the honours on her mother Anna’s Connemara mare Ech Feirin. Ross has competed the 13-year-old daughter of Fredericksminde Hazy Move On with EI for the past two seasons while also riding her in Connemara performance classes and in Pony Club activities as a member of the East Antrim Branch.

Seven seconds faster, Dromore’s Anna McCaldin had to settle for second on her cousin William Mackie’s Irish Sport Horse mare Omaybe. This 12-year-old bay by Omar has been ridden previously under EI rules by Darragh Hanlon and Lucca Stubington but McCaldin will be the one in the saddle this season.

Seven of the 25 starters in Section B finished on zero with Dungannon’s Eimhear Donaghy coming through the cross-country finish bang on the optimum time with Wallis Birch’s ISH mare TMS Freedom, a six-year-old by Je T’Aime Flamenco on whom she had five EI starts last year. Banbridge’s Robyn Rice was one second under the time on her mother Julie’s Connemara mare Holiday Kruising.

In the senior 90cms class, Catherine McDowell sent 50 competitors to the start of cross-country where they were counted down by Desi and Eunice Graham; the time on this phase proved very influential.

Mya McMullen and Edenmore Apache winning a Junior 75-80 cm class at the Tyrella two-phase event \ Anne Hughes

Although picking up 20.4 time penalties, Kat Butler-Ward claimed victory on the thoroughbred gelding Stylebender, a Libertarian eight-year-old who finished ninth of 12 in a Navan bumper in March 2021 and fell on his only start in a point-to-point at Loughbrickland the following November. With four show jumping penalties apiece, Katie McKee and Kaiti McCann finished second and third respectively on Elusive Clover (21.2) and Boyher Cookies N Crème (21.6).

Family outing

The Irwin sisters from Lisburn made their presence felt in the junior 90cms class.

Despite a pole down show jumping and 1.2 cross-country time penalties, 14-year-old Isabella won on her new mount Molly XX, a 10-year-old black mare previously campaigned by Caitlin Woods. Younger by a year, Amelia Irwin finished third on Isabella’s former ride, the Connemara gelding Moyans Dun Deal (18). In the 26-runner field, the pair were split by Alice Salters on Wilderwood Storm (13.6).

Alex Greer recorded a longterm double when adding a win in this year’s senior 80cms class to one posted last year at the same level. Greer saw off 39 rivals when guiding her 19-year-old bay gelding Phoenix Spark to victory on a score of 16.8 ahead of Jonathan West riding Sovereign (17.6).

Fourteen-year-old Mya McMullan and the similarly-aged skewbald gelding Edenmore Apache won the 25-runner junior 80cms class on four penalties, the cost of rolling a pole in the show jumping phase. This combination finished sixth of 17 in the EI80 national championship at Kilguilkey House last September.

There was a divide for second on 9.2 penalties between Holly Rice and Supreme Dream, the top-placed thoroughbred at those national championships and at the recent Baileys Horse Feeds flexi eventing series, and Una McIlmail from nearby Downpatrick riding Thunder.