IRELAND's Heike Holstein and the Irish Sport Horse Sambuca scored 70.370% for fifth place in the The Al Shira’aa Dressage Grand Prix at the four-star Royal Windsor Horse Show in Britain this evening (Thursday).

Despite having to ride her test in a downpour at a very wet Windsor, this was a personal best Grand Prix score for Holstein and her 10-year-old home-bred mare, just eight months after making their big tour international debut at Le Mans CDI3* in France last October. Last in and competing in a torrential downpour, Dane Rawlins secured qualification for the 2019 FEI European Dressage Championships scoring 66.609% for ninth place with the 10-year-old Westphalian gelding Espoire. Rawlins crucially achieved scores of 67.826% from five-star ground jury president, Katrina Wüst (GER) at C and 68.125% and from five-star ground jury member Stephen Clarke (GBR) at B.

Dane Rawlins is the fourth Irish rider to qualify for the 2019 FEI European Dressage Championships joining FEI World Cup finalist Judy Reynolds, 12-time national champion Heike Holstein and former national champion Kate Dwyer. Irish Olympian Anna Merveldt and the 10-year-old Lusitano gelding Esporim achieved the first of two qualifying scores required for the 2019 FEI European Dressage Championships at Mannheim CDI4* in Germany last weekend.