ANDREW and Laura Napier immediately answered the call when asked by the Northern Region of Eventing Ireland if they would stage an affiliated one-day event last Saturday when, sadly, the one scheduled for Glenpatrick had to be cancelled.

With the help of the extended family, the couple put on a super event where, once again, the picnic area around the water fence added to the atmosphere. Cross-country course designer and builder Andrew even had time to compete himself in the EI115, where, with 12.8 cross-country time penalties, he finished second on the home-bred Centre Stage mare, Hazeldene Elsa (48.9).

Thanks to her good dressage score (23.6), the three-runner class was won by Co Meath’s Nicola Ennis with her Irish Sport Horse gelding Corbally Mountain View who, on his second start at this level, had a fence down show jumping and picked up time penalties in both jumping phases for a total of 42.8.

Ennis and the seven-year-old Harlequin du Carel gelding are due to face four rivals in today’s EI110 (Open) at the Northern Region’s new venue of Ash Hollow.

On a day when the family was split, the in-form Jonny Steele won two classes at Hazeldene Farm, while sons William and Jack were on the mark at Omagh Showgrounds.

Steele senior’s first victory came in the two-runner EI115 (Open) where Caroline Keatley’s home-bred Zermatt had a fence down show jumping and picked up 7.6 cross-country time penalties. The 11-year-old bay daughter of Centre Stage had won at EI110 (Open) level at Tullymurry the previous Saturday.

There were seven starters in the EI110where, with two time penalties over the fixed fences, Steele recorded a comfortable success on John Simpson’s traditionally home-bred ISH gelding Somerville Springheeled, who will be one of the many Riverhill Stud-based horses heading to the international at Lisgarvan towards the end of the month (August 22nd to 25th).

This was a first Eventing Ireland win for Somerville Springheeled, on whom Steele won the six and seven-year-old Balmoral Star of the Future performance horse championship at the Balmoral Show in mid-May.

The Uskerty Diamond Lad bay is out of the non-winning Footstepsinthesand mare Mystery Again, who was bred in Co Clare by the late John Hassett and comes from the family of his dual Rockingham Handicap winner Baby Brew, who finished fourth in the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp (Group 1).

Runner up

Enjoying her eventing season before the 2024/’25 point-to-point campaign kicks off in early October, Sarah Sproule filled the runner-up slot with Ballyneety Cavalier Imp (37.4). The six-year-old Cavalier Land mare led after dressage (27.8), but lowered two fences on the Aaron McCusker-designed show jumping track and then picked up 1.6 cross-country time penalties.

Show jumping also proved the undoing of Connor McClory on Alfred Buller’s unraced home-bred gelding Groomsman, who had been close to the pace after the Lucinda Webb-Graham-judged flat work phase on 29.8.

They left the jumping arena with an additional 13.2 penalties, but the six-year-old Conduit gelding beat the clock across the country for a third-place total of 43.

For the record... the Steele siblings were on successful East Down teams at The Pony Club Area 17 dressage qualifier, where William scored at PC70 (Preliminary level), while Jack was a member of the assisted team, and finished fifth individually, on Scooby Do.

Because of the clash with the international at Kilguilkey, entries were down at the higher levels and only two started in the EI110 (Open) where, with 13.2 cross-country times penalties, Clare Abbott and her 10-year-old bay gelding Mr Mighty (37.2) saw off the challenge of Tom Rowlatt-McCormick and R Ballerina, whose total of 44.4 included 15.6 time penalties on the final leg.