NEW Zealand international Amanda Goldsbury rode four horses at Tyrella 1 last Saturday, the opening day of the 2025 Eventing Ireland season, partnering three winners and one runner-up for Cooley Farm.
Goldsbury’s official wins were recorded in the divisions of the EI100 competition, in both cases on her winning dressage score. In Section A, where there were 20 starters including two running hors concours, she claimed the honours on the Zangersheide mare Touch Of Cooley (21.3 penalties), who was making her EI debut.
This daughter of Untouchable 27 competed in two of the major five-year-old show jumping finals last season and has qualified for the six and seven-year-old jumping championship at Balmoral Show in May. Goldsbury also finished second here, on her flat work mark, with the six-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Castlefield Cooley (28.5 penalties), an EI newcomer by Jan Van Holland out of the Ghareeb mare Miss Conci.
The Cooley Farm/Goldsbury double came up in Section B through the Holstein mare Cooley Will Do (24.3 penalties). Another EI debutant with an SJI record, this six-year-old by I’m Special de Muze also jumped a double clear in that Balmoral qualifier at Killossery Lodge Stud earlier this month. Sarah Dowley finished second on her own traditionally-bred six-year-old ISH gelding Manhatton 19 (by Pointilliste), whose total of 30.6 included 3.6 cross-country time penalties. There were 19 starters including four running hors concours in this division.
Goldsbury’s third win came in the non-recorded EI100 (T) where, as the only entry, all she had to do was complete on Cooley Farm’s Dutch Warmblood gelding Portofino, a 2020 Carrera VDL gelding, who earned nine SJI points last year, when ridden by Conor McEneaney for James Kernan.
Katie McKee and her very consistent ISH gelding Summit, a 12-year-old son of Je t’Aime Flamenco, completed on the winning dressage score in the 18-runner EI100 (Amateur).
Locally-based Emma Newsam won the 21-runner EI90 on her Joanne Cairns-awarded dressage score of 31.5 penalties with her own ISH gelding Wellan Kilcooley, a five-year-old newcomer by Lucarelli. Newsam bred the bay, in partnership with Yvette Truesdale, out of the Jaywalker mare Walkabout, who comes from the family of Magennis and Sambuca. Lucca Stubington led after dressage with Magic Clementine, but dropped to sixth as the addition of 5.2 cross-country time penalties gave them a total of 32.5.
EI90
The result of the EI90 (Amateur) was basically decided in the Coreen Abernethy-judged dressage phase, where Christine Findlay on Parklodge Over And Under (21.3 penalties) and Kaiti McCann with Boyher Cookies N Creme (21.8) drew clear of their 14 rivals and remained on those scores. This was a first EI outing for Findlay’s British Sport Horse gelding, a 10-year-old bay by Diarado.
EI80
Although there were only 17 entries in total, the EI80 class was divided to even out the overall load for the dressage judges. Section A was won by Kerry Finlay, as she and her well-known show horse/working hunter, The Ladies Choice (31.3 penalties), a seven-year-old OBOS Quality 004 bay, made their EI debuts. Karina McVeigh, the only rider to complete on her dressage score (32.8), landed Section B with her eight-year-old dun mare Cococabana.