THE National Young Horse Championships in the RDS shine a light on the best up and coming show jumpers in the country.

Places at the finals are not easy to come by with qualifiers throughout the summer, and then a further two during the Dublin Horse Show, before a place in the final is secured.

On the final day of this year’s show, Gone Girl VB was named the 2023 HSI Flexible five-year-old National Champion.

Owned by Lorraine McGuiness, she is by Emerald Van’t Ruytershof, out of Bellissimo, by Cobra and was ridden and bred by Kilkenny’s Vincent Byrne.

Speaking after the result last August, Byrne said: “We’re delighted with the result. I actually bred her myself, her mother is a half-sister to a very good horse of mine, Mr Rockefeller, who I jumped the Premier Series with.

“A friend of mine, Ado Moran broke her for me. She was second in Dublin in 2022 as a four-year-old. We sold her last year to Lorraine McGuiness and she decided to leave her with us, which is a really nice thing; to sell her and then still be part of producing her is fantastic.

“I find that she is quite smart. When she turns back, she’s looking for the jump. She knows what you want her to do so it’s easier, you don’t have to force any of it.”

Seven and eight-year-olds

In the LHK Insurance International seven and eight-year-old final in the main ring on Sunday morning, it was Thor Ter Wilgen Z, ridden by Kevin Gallagher and owned by GBBS Ltd and Gary and Leslie Hazelwood, who came out on top.

Gallagher spoke to The Irish Fieldafter the win: “He was bought from the breeder in Belgium at the start of last year and we’ve just slowly produced him.

“He was very green when we bought him, he’d only done a couple of shows. We brought him to Spain at the back end of last year and they were his first six-year-old classes, then he went again in the New Year and that kind of got him back up to where he should be at his age level.

“I jumped him at the first RDS qualifier in Barnadown back in May and he was double clear. He is very straightforward. He is very big and scopey. He’s careful and naturally very quick, which makes life a bit easier.”

Perfect tribute

Leah Stack and Laurina, winners of the six-year-old final at the Dublin Horse Show 2023 \ Laurence Dunne jumpinaction.net

In a perfect tribute to the late Noel Cawley, who died in late June of this year, his home-bred Laurina was named the six-year-old Cruising National Champion.

Winner of the five-year-old equivalent last year, the mare is by Stakkato Gold (HANN) out of Rincarina by Cruising and was ridden by Leah Stack.

Commenting on her mount after the win, Stack said: “Ah look, she just keeps getting better. She’s one in a million. You’d be hard pushed to find one more clever than her.

“She deserves this win so much, and for her mother (Rincarina), who was one of Noel’s favourites, to win the exact same class all those years ago is fantastic. It’s so lovely, you couldn’t make it up.

“She’s just brilliant, she’s so clever. When you put her under pressure, she really rises to it. She loves the main ring in Dublin. She’s hilarious. She’d let on that she’s very spooky, but the fact is she’s brave and wants to do her job. She’s quirky, but she’s funny. She’s gas.

“She also won the Broodmare Futurity class. Noel spent 20 years trying to win it and she won it for him this year. He’d be so proud of her.”

At the Young Horse World Championships in Lanaken, Belgium, in September, Laurina won the silver medal. A month later, she was sold to American Olympic medallist McLain Ward and will be further produced to international level at his Castle Hill Stables in New York.

Sven Hadley and Fabuleu Vd Watertoren, winning the 1.30m class in Cavan in February \ Laurence Dunne jumpinaction.net

Show Jumpers Club Spring Tour

The first round of the Show Jumpers Club Spring Tour took place at the beginning of February in JAG Equestrian. The initial 12 rounds of the 15-round tour are decided over 1.35m tracks, while the final three rounds are 1.40m.

Junior Timmy Brennan and GCS Ita won the opening competition, which saw just five of the 38 starters post a double clear round. Cathal Daniels and Cappog Tomy took second place.

The second round in Cavan, saw Ger O’Neill and the eight-year-old home-bred Castlefield Bishop earn the top spot, while Cathal Daniels and Cappog Tomy had, once again, settled for the runner-up spot.

Junior Eoin Ryan and Eskola M captured first place in Broadmeadows, while Jake Hunter and Cento Blue were second.

Back in Cavan for round four and Aimee Barry and Garryndruig Limoncello snatched the win, while Timmy Brennan and GCS Ita were second.

Wexford was the venue for the fifth round at the start of March and Eoin Brennan (Eskola M) and Sven Hadley (Phenomene Bleu) took first and second places.

One day later, in Tipperary, Cathal Daniels finally got the win with Cappog Tomy, while Timmy Brennan (GCS Ita) took second.

Round seven in Killossery Lodge saw Brennan back to winning ways; he and GCS Ita saw off stiff competition in an 11-way jump-off to finish just ahead of Sven Hadley and Phenomene Bleu.

Warrington hosted the next round on St Patrick’s Day, where Aimee Barry took her second win with Garryndruig Limoncello and Ger O’Neill and Mr Castlefield were runners-up.

The ninth round, once again in Cavan, saw Nicole Kershaw and Clovalent take their first win of the league, and young rider Maria Schou (Chandler 9) finish second.

Maryville and Kernan’s hosted a round each on March 26th. Sven Hadley (Uidam) won in Kernan’s, while Paul Beecher (Danqu) won in Maryville.

The first of the 1.40m rounds was held in Barnadown and Cathal Daniels once again earned the win here, this time aboard Daisy Duggan’s EMS Adelaide. Derek McConnell rode the eight-year-old Inlaws Manolo to second.

Mullingar played host to the penultimate round, where Nicole Kershaw earned her second win of the league aboard Clovalent. Next in line was Ausra Clarke and Janco B.

The final leg took place in CoilÓg and was dominated by Sven Hadley, who took both first and second place aboard Fabuleu Vd Watertoren and Uidam respectively.

After all the scores were tallied, Hadley was awarded the title of Spring Tour League champion with 48 points. Timmy Brennan and GCS Ita were runners-up with 42 points.

SJI Autumn Grand Prix Series

The Autumn Grand Prix series was run over six rounds during September, October and November. The series was run as six individual classes, so points did not come into play.

The first round was held in Mullingar at the start of September. Junior riders dominated here: Francis Derwin and AHG Whiterock Cruise Down took first place, while James Brennan rode MHS Jersey Girl into second.

The series moved to Duffys for the second round at the end of September and, once again, young riders came to the fore.

Francis Derwin collected his second win, this time riding the eight-year-old Parvati AEG. Jack Brennan and MHS High Hopes took second place.

The third round in Portmore was won by Jonathan Smyth and Mulvin Lights Out. Clem McMahon riding Anthea Clover Trend finished runner-up.

Aimee Barry partnered Garryndruig Limoncello to the top spot at the fourth round in Hollypark. Rhys Williams and Baloys PS took second.

Wexford was the venue for the penultimate round of the series, Sven Hadley and Uidam took the honours here, with Comdt Geoff Curran and Tempo Manor slotting into second.

The final round in Cavan saw contenders face a 1.45m track, fighting it out for a 6,000 euro prize fund.

Clem McMahon collected the win aboard Harry Marshall’s eight-year-old Tango ET. Second place went to Jonathan Smyth riding Mulvin Lights Out.