THE Area 17 eventing final took place last Sunday at Tullymurry Equestrian Centre where the ground had been well watered over the previous week.

As at the two Eventing Ireland one-days held earlier in the month, the cross-country courses were built by David O’Connor. The day’s stewarding duties were shared between Lithgow Currie and Philip McClean while the voice delivering the cross-country commentary was that of Georgia Stubington.

The host Branch, the East Downs, won two of the three team competitions including the PC100 from which their ‘East Down We Dream’ squad have qualified for the upcoming JCB Pony Club Championships in Offchurch Bury – which is outside Leamington Spa in Warwickshire – as have the second-placed Iveagh Zebras.

The winning team, who completed on a penalty score of 97.5, comprised Anya Teuton with the 16-year-old piebald gelding Painted Cavalier (by Cavalier Two For Joy), Molly O’Connor on the traditionally-bred 11-year-old roan gelding Coolnaleen Rebel (by Rebel Mountain), Rachael Broome riding the former racehorse Natures Blossom (an eight-year-old mare by Fruits Of Love) and James Murphy with the 14-year-old chesnut gelding, Rock Rebel.

The East Downs fielded two of the seven teams while the Iveaghs had three. Best of that trio on 112.1 penalties were the Zebras quartet of Grace Kehoe (Killeshin Fifty Shades Of Grey), Connie Crothers (Estella Great Expectations), Meabh McIlduff (Dalsown Done And Dusted) and Ella Heron (Dam Boy). The Iveaghs’ Piebalds team narrowly failed to qualify when third on 114 penalties.

East Down’s Murphy and Rock Rebel won Section B of the PC100 individual competition on their dressage score of 31.5 penalties while Section A was won, also on their first phase score, by the Iveagh Piebalds’ Sadie McMahon riding the 13-year-old Grade A mare, Sillan Coevers (30.2). McMahon thus qualified for the Championships as did the Mid Antrim pair Hannah Thompson and Kirstin Thom, East Antrim’s Erin McClernon plus the Iveaghs’ Gemma Murphy and Bethany Smith.

The sole qualifying team at PC90 level was Killultagh Gold who not only won on the impressive score of 79.8 penalties but did so under pressure from the start as there were just three riders on the team with no discard score.

Heading to Offchurch Bury are Anna McErlean with the Connemara gelding Raford Jack, a 10-year-old grey by Stonewall, Rosey Herron on the ISH gelding Solitaire Rusty Brown, a 14-year-old chesnut by Obelix, and Julia Herron with Twentypark Empress, an eight-year-old ISH mare by Emperor Augustus.

Julia Herron and Anna McErlean topped the Section A leaderboard on 23.7 and 25.3 penalties respectively, finishing in front of two individual qualifiers in East Antrim’s Kate Flanagan and North Down Red’s Lauren McGlennon. Rosie Herron won Section B ahead of individual qualifiers Kirstin Thom (with her second ride Rock Gem) and the Iveagh Badgers’ Kitty Cullen.

Also heading to the Championships is Tullylagan’s Freya Kennedy, the sole entry in the PC100+ whose total of 43.2 included 3.6 cross-country time penalties. Kennedy has qualifier with the ISH mare Carrickview Diamond Gayle, a 13-year-old daughter of Grand Gayle on whom she competes at EI110 level with Eventing Ireland

In the PC90 (Open), the qualifying tickets went to the Mid Antrim’s Hannah Thompson, who finished second on Jemeela Charm (31.9), and the Iveaghs’ Victoria Lee riding Chilled Bud (65). The winner of the seven-strong class was the East Downs’ Caoimhe Crozier who completed on her flat work mark of 27.1 with her new ride Hill Monarch, a six-year-old grey gelding by Masurenfuerst out of a Connemara mare.

Crozier, whose mother, Christine, is Branch secretary, has good reason to pass on The Pony Club Championships this year as, with the Connemara gelding Kildromin Banjo, she will be representing Ireland at the European Pony Championships at Strzegom, Poland.

Remarkably, given the size of the Branch, the East Downs’ Tom Rowlatt-McCormick, whose mother Fran is Branch District Commissioner, has been selected for the European Junior Championships in Segersjo, Sweden at the end of August with Mon Ami Alme, while a third East Down member, Darragh Hanlon, has been named as a non-travelling reserve for the same championships with Marco.

Class 1 on Sunday was the PC80 from which teams and individuals qualified for The Pony Club Grassroots Regional Championships. For those from Area 17, these will take place next Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Auchlishie Eventing in Kirriemuir, Scotland where they will compete against Branches from Areas 1, 2 and 19 (Scotland and the north of England).

Six teams qualified with the winners, on 107.9 penalties, being the ‘East Down We Roll’ squad of Ellen MacNabb (Little Blackbird), Sarah Gilchrist (Hazeldene Mighty Max), Emma Burns (Brook Vale Hope) and Jennifer Gilchrist (Lackaghmore Vandango). Heading the individual leaderboards to qualify were Jo Henry McCool of Mid Antrim, who won Section A on Jack (26.9), and Emily Turley who won Section B with Blue Cobweb (31.3) as a member of ‘East Down We Roll’.

Welcome sponsorship for Sunday’s Area Eventing final was received from the pet and equine crematorium company Glenvine, Sloans Transport and John Gibson of Sporting Images NI.