THE Pre-Novice class at last Saturday’s fifth leg of the Baileys Horse Feeds flexi eventing series at The Meadows was split in two to accommodate judging requirements, with thoroughbreds coming out on top in both divisions.

Fifteen combinations started in Section B, where five were awarded scores of over 70% by Sally Hodgkinson. Her final leaderboard was headed by Felicity McConnell and her mother Joyce’s once-raced Easy Pleased (76.3), winners in 2022 and 2023 of the racehorse to riding horse class at Balmoral Show.

Treo Eile, which is sponsoring a prize for the leading thoroughbred in this flexi eventing series, will have been delighted to see Rachel Ferres finish second (74) with the twice-raced Woodbury Tampa (aka Benny), a 2015 gelding by Born To Sea. This combination finished fourth of 17 in the EI100 won by the elsewhere-mentioned Kaiti McCann and Boyher Cookies N Creme at Tullymurry last July, before rounding off their season next time out at the inaugural Lisgarvan House International Horse Trials where, with 12 show jumping penalties, they finished 19th of 28 in the CCI1*-Intro. Easy Pleased, a seven-year-old bay gelding by Mahler, was bred in Co Kerry by Brendan Nolan, out of the hurdle-winning Hard To Please (by Presenting). As a three-year-old, he was purchased at Tattersalls Ireland by Templepatrick point-to-point handler Warren Ewing who, in early November 2021, brought him back there for the Louth Foxhounds’ point-to-point, where the bay unseated his rider five out in a division of the four-year-old maiden. The plug was then pulled on Easy Pleased’s racing career and through Ewing’s head girl, event rider Sarah Sproule, he ended up in nearby Ballyclare with the McConnell family.

We asked Felicity what she had done with the horse since his second triumph in the Main Arena at Balmoral last May. “I’ve just been doing a bit more jumping with him – training shows each weekend and a few lessons with different people, as well as some cross-country schooling – nothing very exciting to be honest,” said the rider.

“I’ve just finished my mocks and I’m now getting my head down for A-levels in June. I’m not sure if I’ll go back to Balmoral this year – I don’t really want to chance my luck by doing the racehorse to riding horse class again and, anyway, the plan this year is to event him,” concluded McConnell, who keeps herself busy with her own confectionery business, Cakes And Bakes by Felicity.

Double

The Corey Mawhinney-judged Section A brought up a double for Caroline McQuillan and the unraced Belle Saru, winners of the sole Pre-Novice class the previous Saturday. Here, the pair scored 72.5% to narrowly claim the class honours, ahead of Claire Ireland and her 16-year-old palomino gelding Goin’ For Gold (72). McQuillan, who won the 2022 EI100 (Amateur) national championship on the 2016 Sageburg mare, owns Saturday’s winner in partnership with her sister, Rosemary Bellew.

Out of the unraced Dereme (by Robin Des Champs), Belle Saru was bred in Co Wexford by James O’Connor, who will be hosting the third leg of this year’s Young Event Horse Series (a Dublin Horse Show qualifier), at Forth Mountain on Tuesday, June 18th.