THE sun shone at Balmoral on British rider Annabel Shields who steered her mount Wet Wet Wet to victory before a packed crowd.

Shields put in a gutsy performance to clinch the win in a seven-way decider, clocking the winning time of 40.18 seconds to take the lion’s share of the £22,300 on offer.

Said a delighted Shields: “I have only been riding Wet Wet Wet since October. He is a real winner, we have gelled well.The horse is naturally quick and I got a good turn back to the last line which gave me the advantage. It was a great show and a real test as it was very competitive.”

Shields returned home last night and will be in action on novice horses at Area 14 in Britain this weekend.

The win was all the more special as it was the Durham rider’s first visit to Balmoral.

It was a good show too for Ger O’Neill who took both the leading international rider and the speed title as well.

O’Neill and Dress Boeken’s Grossos Roeschen won the international accumulator class yesterday, following an earlier victory in the international two-phase class on Wednesday.

Britain’s James Smith and Tyson Uno won the Irish Horse Gateway international class on Wednesday, ahead of Louise Smith (Dassler) and Keith Shore (Mystic Hurricane).

Irish international Greg Broderick had his Nations Cup campaigner MHS Going Global back in action following a minor injury that put him on the sidelines for the cancelled Lummen fixture. The pair jumped a steady clear to finish in fourth place.

Ballybofey’s Robert Davis hasn’t been well of late but on Wednesday afternoon, he received the best possible news from Balmoral Park where his Emperors Touch had been crowned youngstock champion.

The son of Emperor Augustus had earlier been shown by the owner’s son-on-law, Seamus O’Neill, to win the TopSpec three-year-old lightweight geldings’ class and it was another of that age group, Ann Lyons’s Financial Reward filly, Greenhall Push Button, who stood reserve supreme. Davis, exhibiting at Balmoral for the first time, purchased the new title holder, who is out of a Touchdown mare, privately as a yearling.

Judged in the main arena just slightly later on Wednesday, the Creightons Of Finaghy hunter championship was won by Mike Lewis’ older small class winner, Carnsdale Irish Times, a seven-year-old by Murphy’s Irish Diamond. Partnered to success by Robyn Catterall, the gelding, who is out of a thoroughbred mare by Flemensfirth, also won the Bluegrass ladies’ side saddle class on Thursday. The four-year-old champion, ridden and produced by Jane Bradbury for Daphne Tierney, was the heavyweight Bloomfield Valhalla, by Lux Z.

Ridden performance classes took place on Thursday morning in the main arena where the Ecotrack & Access champion Irish Draught was the well-known King Flagmount. The 10-year-old Welcome Flagmount gelding is now in the ownership of his longterm rider Alicia Devlin Byrne.

Emma Jackson finished first and second in the four-year-old class of the Knotts Bakery young event horse section, winning with her own OBOS Quality 004 gelding Carra Lux Quality and placing second with the sponsor’s Carrick Cruise On Diamond. Owner Carol Gee and rider Tracey Walshe landed the five-year-old class with the Dutch-bred Gebaliaretto, a chesnut gelding by Rousseau.