SIAN Coleman may have forfeited the ride on the four-year-old winner Kealanine Chief as she returned to competitive riding following the birth of son Fred but she retained the mount on Ballyvonare Rascal, winner of Section A of the five-year-old class at the Young Event Horse Series (YES!) qualifier at Scarteen last Tuesday week.

The Kilroe-based rider was paying a quick return visit to the Ryan family’s venue as she competed two horses at the EI one-day there on June 11th, finishing fourth in the EI100 on Ballyvonare Rascal with whom she was third in the four-year-old young event horse class at Dublin last August.

A bay gelding by Luidam, Ballyvonare Rascal (306.9 points) was home-bred in Co Cork by Charles and Catherine Harold-Barry. He is out of the S Creevagh Ferro mare Cleo Ferro who Lucy Latta rode on the Irish gold medal-winning team at the 2014 European Junior Eventing Championships.

Also set for a return visit to Dublin are the second and third-placed combinations at Scarteen. DS Candescent (306.6), a Liam Lynskey-bred ISH gelding by Sligo Candy Boy, is owned by Deborah McCann and rider Alyssa O’Neill. Niamh Tottenham recorded a score of 300.5 on her home-bred Slieve Callan Solice, a grey by Tyson on whom she finished sixth at the RDS last August.

Tottenham’s sister, Nicola Ennis, qualified in fifth in Section B on another son of Tyson, CBI Joker (309.4), a chesnut who is registered with the Warmblood Studbook of Ireland and owned by another sister, Suzanne.

Previously qualified in this section were the first, second and fourth placed combinations – Dominic Furnell with his home-bred ISH mare Ballycahane Silver Athena (322.6), Steven Smith on Stephen Grieve’s ISH gelding Greenhall Gold Dust (320.5) and Daniel Alderson on Emma O’Shea’s home-bred ISH gelding Baby I’m A Star (311).

The first qualifying ticket therefore went to the third-placed Rossdarragh Sportsfield Dancer (313.7), an ISH gelding by the Dutch Warmblood stallion Udancer Hero. Ridden for Paul Donovan by Corentin Gautier, the bay was bred in Co Laois by Denis Delaney out of Brockagh Courage (by Courage II).

The suitability and potential judges for the young event classes were Catherine Abbott (jump) and Marian Slattery (presentation) plus Italian dressage rider Susanna Aromando and longtime England-based Australian Warren Lamperd who has competed in high level dressage, eventing and show jumping (ridden displays).

Speaking on behalf of both visiting judges, Lamperd commented: “Susanna and I were taken aback with the quality on the day. The overall emphasis on allowing the horses to go in a way that is appropriate for their age and development, encouraging riders to be confident enough to ride this way and know that they will be supported in the judging and the philosophy of the competition is to be complimented.