BRITAIN’s Caroline Harris recorded her first victory in Ireland at last week’s SemaLease Kilguilkey House International, where she completed on her dressage score to win the Colliers CCI4*-S with the Irish Sport Horse gelding Cooley Mosstown (28.7 penalties).

Having retired his father James’ Kilcannon Ramiro across the country at Badminton, Daragh Byrne had his first start on the ISH gelding since then and the 12-year-old Ramiro B bay showed his appreciation for this drop down in grade when finishing second on 33.4.

The seemingly ever-present Patrick Whelan finished third with Edel Nolan’s 12-year-old home-bred traditional ISH gelding Denis Finch Hatton (36.1).

With eight show jumping penalties and 3.2 for time across the country, Harris also finished seventh in this class with Antigone II (40.9) and completed on her dressage score to fill the runner-up spot in the 30-runner CCI2*-L with Tailor Made Z (28.5).

“It was a very good show for us,” commented Harris. “The winner will next run in the 4*-S at Burgham with his main target this season being the eight and nine-year-old class at Blenheim. We’re delighted with Tailor Made, who is a seven-year-old.

“We’d like to think he might go to Le Lion at the end of the season, but he would have to qualify and be selected and we are not going to do too much with him.

“I thought the cross-country tracks at Kilguilkey were very good. They were educational without being too beefy, which was perfect for Cooley Mosstown, who was having his first 4* start,” concluded Harris. The David Harrison-bred, Celtic Hero B Z-sired winner, who finished second under Harris in the CCI2*-L at Millstreet last year, is owned by Karen Dunford and Dinah Posford and also by Gail Sinclair, who was the only one able to attend.

Three of the 20 starters in this CCI4*-S failed to complete. One was withdrawn after dressage, one was eliminated show jumping following a third refusal and another eliminated for a similar reason over the fixed fences, one of which caught out just one other runner.