A THREE-hour journey from Tyrone to Kildare paid dividends for Frank Curran last Sunday as he took the honours in the first round of the Connolly’s Red Mills Spring Tour at JAG Equestrian. Riding Heffron Equine’s Oliver Twister, Curran took home the winner’s share of the €2,000 in the host-sponsored class.

Delighted with the win, Curran said: “The plan was to keep it as tight as possible and although it didn’t go exactly to plan at the start it worked out and I made up time towards the end of the course. The horse is good at the turns and quite quick across the ground so I knew that I was in with a good chance.”

Curran plans to continue with the series and compete on the National Grand Prix circuit with Oliver Twister.

Owned by Heffron Equine and bred by Sydney Cranston from Monaghan, Oliver Twister (ISH) is by the Voltaire-sired Oliver (KWPN) and out of the Don Juan De La Bouverie-sired dam Skerrymores Don One. The chesnut gelding was originally bought by Harvey Smith (IRL) in Cavan Horse Sales as a four-year-old and was campaigned for a short time by Francis Connors in 2016 before being taken over by Curran.

Last year, on the European circuit, the duo enjoyed a series of good results which included wins in Oliva Valencia CSI2* up to 1.40m.

A popular tour to start the national show jumping season – there was a good turn out with 48 combinations going to post. International course designer Tom Holden designed a fair track for the opening round with no particular fence causing any problems. However, with lighting in the warm-up arena causing concern for riders, it was announced by judges towards the end of the first round that riders would be allowed to jump fence four on the course prior to starting their jumping round.

For the jump-off, which saw 14 riders take up the challenge, an extra fence which formed no part of the course was added for the purpose of allowing riders to jump twice before commencing their round.

The jump-off began on a positive note, with second to go, Cork rider Olivia Roycroft riding Westpalstown Lady crossing the line with nothing to add in 39.95 seconds. Although Roycroft had set the bar high, it was just two combinations later when the winning round was lodged by Curran aboard Oliver Twister who went clear in 34.73 seconds. Curran set of in a calculated pace and made up time from the start. A good turn to the second vertical matched with a tight line back to the vertical at the original fence one saw him on target, but it was the daring gallop to the last fence that clinched him the win.

The next clear round was delivered two horses later as Angela Percy, riding El Cid V.H Migroveld, crossed the line in a time of 41.29 seconds which saw her slot into third place.

There were anxious moments for Curran as the next in, Damien Griffin, took a similar line to the leader with the Pamela Donaghy-owned Tabby, but, in the end, a clear round in 35.57 seconds would only prove good enough for second place.

The penultimate combination of Jamie Landers riding Lady Georgina Forbes’ Castleforbes Angelina looked up for the challenge, but a slightly longer route back to the dreaded vertical cost him as he crossed the line in 40.14 seconds for fifth place.

Last to go, all eyes were on local rider Stephen Murphy as he took to the course with Chantelle, but despite a gallant attempt a clear in 36.46 seconds, proved only good enough to secure third place and, demoting Roycroft to fourth. The result meant that Murphy also took the leading young rider prize of this round, while Joseph O’Brien took the leading Pro-Am prize.

The league which is designed among other things to educate younger horses saw a few nice seven-year-olds put through their paces. Among those seven-year-olds on the start list were the Belgian Warmblood stallion, Last Minute Van Overis (Nonstop x Melonij Z), HVL Symphony (Orestus x Highland Contessa) and Shersheen Robin (Womanizer x Rain Shine).

GOOD START

Current Spring Tour Champion Sven Hadley made his presence felt when he took the win in the earlier 1.20m, with Ganorad, when clear in 25.25 seconds. Not content with the win, he also took second place with Victoria Z when he delivered another clear round in 25.61 seconds.

Claiming third place was Aisling Connolly riding Cool Boy when she crossed the line with nothing to spare in 26.93 seconds.

It was a good outing for Jamie Landers as he rode to victory in the 1.10m with Castleforbes Vitoria when they went clear in 21.66 seconds, ahead of Sven Hadley and Ganorad who followed closely behind in a time of 22.97 seconds. Landers also claimed third place with Castleforbes Blossom when he kept all the poles in place in a time of 25.43 seconds.

Connolly’s Red Mills Spring Tour

JAG Equestrian - round one

1, Heffron Equine Ltd Oliver Twister Frank Curran /0/0/34.73

2, Pamela Donaghy Tabby Damien Griffin /0/0/35.57

3, Brian Murphy Chantelle Stephen Murphy /0/0/36.46

4, Olivia Roycroft Westpalstown Lady Olivia Roycroft /0/0/39.95

5, Lady Georgina Forbes Castleforbes Angelina Jamie Landers /0/0/40.14

6, Angela Percy El Cid V.H Migroveld Angela Percy /0/0/41.29