IN glorious sunshine at The Meadows on Tuesday, 10 more combinations qualified for the Pegus young event horse championships at next month’s Balmoral Show.
Johnny Mulligan had a good day in the four-year-old section, qualifying two. He won on a score of 75.33% with Fiona Wilson’s Vechta gelding Malcolm AX who was bred in Co Down by Judith McClelland out of the Touchdown mare Brookhall Lady. The bay topped Catherine Abbott’s conformation and type assessment (8.33).
“This fellow competed in the final of the loose jumping up here in December and I got him just over two months ago,” reported Mulligan whose mount received the section’s combined top marks (12) for suitability and potential.
“He will go to Balmoral, then do the new FEHL and possibly a couple of the four-year-old Horse Sport Ireland classes.
“I’ve been based at Danescroft since March and things are working out really well for me there. The deal is that I help George (Stewart) with his horses in the mornings and do my own in the afternoons. I’ve access to the indoor and outdoor schools, swimming pool, spa, gallop, walker, the lot!
“Brian Clinghan, who owns and bred the second horse I qualified (Wendy Woo, by Clover Echo), does his mare at home himself and I head over to ride her whenever I can.”
Camella McDowell is very excited about her Bonmahon Flash who finished second (71.25) under Colin Halliday. The bay Bonmahon Master Blue gelding, who is out of a thoroughbred mare, had previously qualified at Ravensdale.
Tom Doherty, Horse Sport Ireland’s show jumping trainer for the pony event team, judged the jumping phase and awarded his top mark of 34.5 to the Tinaranas Inspector gelding Frenchfort Inspector who was ridden by his owner Beverley Caves to place third (69.58).
Tuesday saw the welcome return to competition of Emma Jackson who finished fourth, on the same total, with her own Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan gelding Giorgio Raco who led (24.75) following Angeline Nicholson’s judging of the dressage phase.
Steven Smith has his horses in excellent fettle and he took the top two qualifying slots in the five-year-old section.
The Gilford rider won with Gina Johnson’s homebred Hill Patrol who is by the thoroughbred stallion Spirit House. The bay is a year younger half-brother to the Charming Boy mare Juniper Hill on whom Trevor Smith won a section of the EI 100 class at Tyrella (4) on Saturday.
Marks
The pair are out of Johnson’s Sheepcote Solitude, a 1994 daughter of the Olympic dressage stallion Son Of Charm. Although not heading any of the three judges’ specific marks, Hill Patrol topped the combined scores for suitability and potential (13) to complete on 78.08%.
His stable-companion, Tullybroom Eddie, finished second on 75.42 with the next best S&P score of 12. Janet Hall’s bay, who won once and placed fifth three times in his four EI 90 starts last season under Malachy Casement, is traditionally-bred being by the thoroughbred Clerkenwell (a son of Sadler’s Wells) out of a Clover Hill mare.
Beverley Caves was third (74.83) also in this section with her Hermes de Reve gelding Killadeas who topped the dressage leaderboard on 23.75. Out of Shirley Bothwell’s OBOS Quality 004 mare ISHD Convoy, this bay had three outings in EI 90 classes last year, winning twice.
Smith rode two other five-year-olds, finishing fifth with the Contador mare Derryinver Girl.
As riders are restricted to two mounts per class at Balmoral, one of his qualified horses will have a new jockey on board next month.
There was much praise for the courses at The Meadows and the McCusker family’s efforts paid off in the four-year-old class where the Colin Halliday-partnered Harison qualified in sixth place. The chesnut Harlequin du Carel gelding had a successful career in hand and was all-Ireland yearling champion at Scariff in 2012.
The third Pegus championships qualifier takes place at Wexford Equestrian on Tuesday next, April 28th.