THERE was an 8.30am start last Sunday to cater for the large entry at Marlton, where the Eastern Region hosted the first leg of this year’s DAFM dressage autumn development series.

Richard Baldwin (British Dressage List 1) judged two of the four DAFM classes and, in the five-runner four-year-old qualifier, was obviously impressed by Kevin Acres’s test on Lynn Cadogan’s Westphalian gelding Mercury For Gold (79.40%), as they finished well clear of Hannah Lynam riding the Hanoverian mare Dark Diamond (69.60).

Speaking of the For Gold chesnut, who is out of the Sorento mare Solea KS, Acres commented: “This is a lovely horse, who was purchased broken and riding in Germany about five months ago. This is his first ever show and the plan is to complete the series and contest the final.” While on the look-out for a more experienced animal, Acres is now mainly competing young horses, following the sale of Con McCarthy’s Ganesh to Michelle Begley.

In the seven and eight-year-old qualifier, five combinations also appeared before Baldwin, who awarded his highest score to Tara Hayes riding her mother Fiona’s Irish Sport Horse mare Sandora BS (68.6%). The 2016 Spielberg bay was bred by the rider’s father Will out of the unraced Zagreb mare Silver Grouse, who bred two winners on the track. Here, Iris Walshe finished second on her eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Leroy VZ (68.2).

Seven five-year-olds came before Michael Moore (List 2A), whose winner was another Westphalian by For Gold, Foxy Lady R (82%), a liver chesnut ridden by Ruth Hayes for Sue Chadwick. This combination, who won the Novice Category 3 championship at Ballindenisk recently, again finished ahead of Sonya McCormack riding the ISH gelding Oakfield Jappeloup (81), a Rebel Mountain grey, with Caroline Lynch close behind in third on her ISH gelding DS Bouncer 007 (80), a grey son of Moylough Bouncer.

There were five starters in the Moore-judged six-year-old class, where the winners were Iris Walshe with her Dutch Warmblood gelding Nirvana RH (73%), a brown son of In Style. Riding for the still sidelined Rachel Dowley, Ellie Lonergan placed joint second on GFL Flashdancce and GFL Nova, who both finished on 68, with a collective score of seven apiece. Catering for both horses and ponies, the second leg of the DAFM series takes place during next Saturday’s South Munster Region show at Ballindenisk.