THE largest class at last weekend’s TRI Equestrian/Eventing Ireland Grassroots Championships at Ballindenisk was the EI90 championship, where 19 combinations appeared before dressage judge Paula Geiger on Saturday.

Geiger’s winner on a penalty score of 27.3 was Emma Ryan with her own Clonfin Sidneigh, and this combination remained at the head of affairs throughout, following up their narrow victory in another 19-runner field at Grove last month.

Happily, her two cross-country time penalties didn’t affect Caroline Lynch’s second-place finish with her Irish Sport Horse gelding DS Bouncer 007 (30.5), while Meabh O’Brien and Arabella Whelehan finished third and fourth with Lucy Babe (32) and Blackhill Border Fox (32.3) respectively.

Clonfin Sidneigh, who was making just his fifth EI appearance on Saturday, was bred in Co Mayo by Thomas Geraghty. The dun is by the Connemara stallion Sinatra, out of a mare by Young Convinced.

Lillymai Walsh enjoyed an excellent weekend with Des Kent’s Chapel Hill Dark Spark, on whom she was competing for just the third time under EI rules. A bay son of Krafty Clover, Chapel Hill Dark Spark, who has 135 ShowJumping Ireland points – and counting – to his credit, was bred in Co Waterford by Jennifer Hunt out of Dungarvan Roseann.

Walsh completed on her joint-winning dressage score (26 penalties) to win the eight-runner EI90 (P) on the seven-year-old ISH gelding and was doubly rewarded when judged the winner of the championships’ main turn-out award. She was presented with a €75 voucher from Beesley & Co and a classic studio photoshoot from Aisling Deverell.

Abbey Ferris would have been annoyed with herself as, joint-first after dressage with How Ya Sammy, she dropped back to second with the addition of 1.2 cross-country time penalties. Anna Radford completed on her first phase score to place third with the ISH mare Essenar Double Dutch (28.3). There was very little grief in this class.