THE North East Region of the Association of Irish Riding Clubs will be represented at next month’s Connolly’s Red Mills dressage team finals by the Ashbrook and Border Counties clubs, who once again dominated last Saturday’s regional qualifier.
This was staged at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown where the weather picked up for the afternoon session following some heavy showers in the morning.
Bernie Foley (intermediate and advanced intermediate) and Clare Fitzsimons (primary, advanced primary and open) judged in the better conditions, taking over respectively from Vida Tansey and John Lyttle.
Having finished first and second in The Irish Field team competition at the AIRC Festival in Stradbally Hall, Ashbrook mixed and matched those squads to take the first and third qualifying slots on Sunday.
The winning white team quartet, who completed on a total of 402.96%, comprised John Gavin (Good News Charlie), Mags Aughney, Helena Fitzgerald and Niamh Campbell, while also going through to Mullingar from the north Dublin club are the blue team of Michael Moore, Gavin (Smart Decision), Helen Clarke and Jane Averill (398.97).
Border Counties, who were unable to field a team at the festival, recorded a score of 401.13 to finish second through Rosemary Bellew, Caroline McQuillan, Emma McKenna and Gay Keenan.
Ashbrook white’s Fitzgerald and Campbell won their individual arenas, the latter landing the primary class with her 10-year-old piebald gelding Boots.
On a total of 135.63%, Campbell ended up beating just Cheval Black’s Elaine Philips on the 12-year-old thoroughbred Generous Gent (130.04) as Castle Leslie Green’s Rowena Parker suddenly fell ill following her morning test and was rushed to hospital.
Thankfully her condition had improved considerably by Tuesday.
Fitzgerald’s success came at advanced primary level where she recorded a total of 136.80% to score narrowly from Mullaghmore secretary Sinead Corrigan riding her 11-year-old Loughehoe Guy mare Bridge House Gal (136.77), with Cheval’s Geraldine Gaul finishing third on her similarly-aged skewbald gelding Kool Colour (133.49).
A delighted Fitzgerald partnered her 16-year-old Clover Dubh gelding Gentleman James with whom she won the ridden horse championship at the festival.
Ashbrook secretary Helen Clarke, a member of the blue team, won the intermediate class on a score of 135.54% riding Out Of The Blue, an 11-year-old chesnut gelding on whom she shares the ride with fellow club member, Margaret Brannigan, who was 10th in the class on 126.96.
Cheval chairman Angela Day finished second with the former international two-star eventer GI Goldrush (133.78), a 17-year-old thoroughbred gelding by Lion d’Or, while Sinead Ellis, from the Killcarrick club in the West Leinster Region, placed third on her 15-year-old Cougar gelding Westcoast Cougar (128.86).
Eight riders contested the advanced intermediate competition where there was a comprehensive victory for Border Counties’ Caroline McQuillan and her imposing chesnut Foxtail Orchid, an eight-year-old Porsch gelding on whom she won an EI100 Amateur class at Tyrella (4) in late April.
The Co Monaghan combination established a good lead in the morning (69.37) before finishing on a total of 138.24%. Amazingly, John Gavin recorded 65.32 on both his horses in the afternoon but, through his morning scores of 65.21 and 64.17 finished second and third respectively on his eight-year-old grey gelding Good News Charlie and on Clare Fitzsimons’s 15-year-old Rachelle Comet gelding Smart Decision.
Only three riders competed in the open class won by Anne O’Dowd, a member of Ashbrook’s fourth-placed gold team, on her 20-year-old 148cms gelding Ballydavid Sam (133.20).
Ashbrook blue’s Michael Moore placed second on 132.75 with the 13-year-old grey mare Guaranteed Gold, while Rosemary Bellew of Border Counties finished third with the thoroughbred Mr Brown, a 16-year-old bay by Mohaajir.