ANDREW Williams reckons that he and partner John Tilley looked at roughly 300 three-year-olds a tthe Goresbridge September Sale last year but bought just the one, Borris Cornet Coole, giving the section’s top price of €20,000 for the bay Irish Sport Horse.

Now running under the banner of Kilkenny International, Borris Cornet Coole has made a big impression in young event horse classes this season. He made his competitive debut in the YES! qualifier at Scarteen and also competed at Forth Mountain before securing his Dublin ticket at Rincoola.

As Williams wanted the horse to experience the atmosphere of an international show and compete in an arena with a big screen in place before heading to the Ballsbridge showgrounds, the gelding and three stable-companions were entered in the four-year-old Young Event Horse Discovery class at the Millstreet International Horse Show.

On the Wednesday, three of them qualified under Tilley for Saturday’s final where they filled the top three placings, Borris Cornet Coole winning with 94 points to his credit ahead of Jerpoint Will (91)and NPS Nebraska (90). The fourth-placed horse scored 85.5.

At Dublin, Borris Cornet Coole finished third (92.6 points) in the four-year-old young event horse class to Leave It With Me Cal M2S (94.8) and Tykillen Shindig (92.8). The prize fund for that class was supported by Horse Sport Ireland/Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine who, last Friday evening, sponsored the four-year-old event horse Masters class at the Lisgarvan House international.

Top score

Here, Borris Cornet Coole enhanced his reputation even further when, on 162.5 points, he beat the Diarmuid Ryan-ridden BT Just Special (158.5) and the Rosie Alcorn-partnered Goodwins Cu Chulainn (156.5) into second and third. The Ciara O’Connor-ridden Odyssey Island (Island Commander – Rahard Diamond, by Kings Servant) won the prize for the top-placed Traditional Irish Horse when finishing fourth (158).

The judges on Friday were Britain’s Emily King and Sam Ecroyd (conformation), Poland’s Agnieszka Massakowska (dressage), Britain’s Izzy Taylor and Lissa Green (show jumping) and the last-named’s mother Lucinda Green (cross-country) who commented: “This class was a real innovation, the horses went from the dressage, straight to show jumping, then straight on to a proper cross-country track which is the bit I really loved.

“We are so used to seeing plastic fences on an all-weather arena, so to assess young horses over a suitably-designed course, with genuine cross-country obstacles, was an absolute joy to judge. A really great idea and lots to build on for the future.”

Williams also likes this competition which he and Tilley won last year with the mare CFH Cornet Vivendi. “It’s like a proper event only in a short format. You can see how brave and bold the horses are over the fences with room to gallop between them. Saying that, it doesn’t matter where this horse goes as he stands out everywhere and just owns the place!

“Like all of ours, he is for sale and there have been plenty of enquiries about him. However, we are in no rush to sell as we feel he must go to the right person, a top-class rider.” From the first crop of Ger O’Neill’s Holstein stallion Castlefield Cornet, as is Goodwins Cu Chulainn, Borris Cornet Coole was bred in Co Carlow by Joe and Jerry Skelton out of the Warrenstown You 2 mare Miss Too Coole, dam previously of the Cobra mare MGH Jessica (CCI3*-S).