IRELAND had a great weekend at Cornbury House International and Young Horse Championships, with team and individual ribbons making their way back across the Irish Sea.

The Irish excelled in the CCI-S 2*J Team competition, claiming first, second and fourth places, while Great Britain had to settle for third, fifth and sixth spots.

The winning team of Ben Connors riding OLS Pixie Hollow (36.5), Paddy Smullen riding Avalon Romulus (41.4), Carla Williamson riding Goldman (32.3) and Connie Cullen riding Grafenstolz Distinction (E), put on a very impressive performance and, despite the unfortunate elimination of Connie Cullen across the country, finished on a score of 110.2 to take the top spot.

Carla Williamson and Goldman were on the winning Irish squad in the CCI-S 2*J Team competition and the pair placed fourth individually at Cornbury House International \ EquusPix Photography

The second placed Irish team of Molly O’Connor riding Stillbrook Aoife (37.1), Jasper Kelly riding Agatha Raisin (38.5), Maria Fouhy riding Hillcrest Horizon (46) and Ciara O’Connor riding Ashwood Iron Lady (35) were just a fraction behind on 110.6, with consistent scores across the phases.

The Irish team of Ali Fitzpatrick riding Kelly (38.3), Emily Brooks riding Ardagh Mayday (41.3), Sarah Archdeacon riding Hacketts Cross (47.5) and Zach Palmer riding Sir Alexander Diamond (43.9) finished fourth on a total score of 123.5.

Individually, Tom Nestor and Coolafancy rode an accomplished dressage test to score 28.3 and added just 0.4 time penalties in both show jumping and cross-country phases to finish on 29.1 to claim second place. The class was won by Britain’s Oscar Fitzgerald riding Super Cillious, who finished on his dressage score of 25.6.

Tom wasn’t the only Irish rider in the top 10 – in fact, three others joined him, with Williamson on Goldman in fourth, Ciara O’Connor on Ashwood Iron Lady in seventh and Ben Connors on OLS Pixie Hollow in 10th.

Irish combinations also featured in the senior classes, with Susie Berry and Clever Trick placing fifth in the CCI-S 3* Section A; while Aoife Clark on Celus D’Ermac Z placed sixth and Austin O’Connor on Isazsa were seventh in Section B. Molly Evans and Wellan Graffiti placed sixth in the Open Intermediate Section E, while Austin O’Connor rode Climate Change into fourth place in Intermediate Section J and Danielle McCormack on Hildare Trust Me was fourth in BE105(5YO) Section K.

Tadgh O’Haire rode Ballinagore Hero into second place in the Pony Trials, PT105 Section O.