O’Brien scores at Wellington

IRELAND’S David O’Brien opened the second week of the 2024 ESP Spring Series at Wellington, Florida, with a win in Thursday’s $32,000 BrainJuice CIS3* 1.45m riding Estoril Delle Roane on the grass derby field at Equestrian Village. The Spring Series at Wellington International runs for three weeks as part of the ESP Annual Series and concludes on May 12th. O’Brien and Estoril Delle Roane, the 10-year-old Italian Sport Horse (Cristallo I x Hattrick), owned by Postage Stamp Farm, led the way with a double clear in 29.97 over the jump-off phase. Fellow Irishman Paul O’Shea rode Hellcat to second in 30.46 seconds for owner Team Eye Candy, while Lebanon’s Jad Dana rounded out the podium in 30.67 seconds riding Fleur de-Lis’ Cherie, owned by The Cherie Group.

Stallion Open Day a success

MORE than 700 people made the trip to Thurles last Sunday to see the impressive list of stallions available at Ballypatrick this season. The day was packed with a varied agenda which included Ballypatrick’s top competition stallions jumping under saddle, a showcase of some of their young stock loose and also a very informative training demonstration with Brian Cassidy and riders Leah Stack and Niamh McEvoy that gave the audience an insight into the training and development that goes on for both horses and riders involved in the operation.

In addition to their pre-existing stallions standing at Ballypatrick, Greg Broderick has also added extremely impressive three-year-olds to their roster, one of which was a big hit with breeders. Verbier De Muze by Carthago, out of Azuela De Muze is one to watch. Other standouts of the day included seeing the current WBFSH five-year-old silver medal-winning Boleybawn Alvaro jump with Niamh McEvoy, as well as very impressive young pony stallion BP Bon Jovi who was four- year-old champion in France in 2022.

Red Mills renews partnership

THE Association of Irish Riding Clubs (AIRC) has welcomed the continuation of Connolly’s Red Mills as the title sponsor for three of its premier national events this year - the Dressage, Hunter Trials, and Show Jumping Championships.

Based in Goresbridge, Co Kilkenny, Connolly’s Red Mills is a renowned feed company and a leading sponsor ofboth racing and sport horse events and competitors.

The company has been one of the Association’s primary sponsors.

In 2012 Connolly’s Red Mills acquired Foran Equine and in 2021 they acquired Carr & Day & Martin.

Jane Davis, Head of equine marketing at Connolly’s Red Mills, said: “We are very proud of our long-standing partnership with the AIRC and each year we relish being part of the three championships.

“Along with our partners Foran Equine and Carr & Day & Martin, we share the same values and love for the horse as the AIRC and its members and are committed to manufacturing and supplying the highest quality products designed to nourish, support and care for your horses. We wish everyone a safe, fun, and successful season.”

Clarification

The Irish Horse World wishes to clarify that an article in last week’s edition about an equine demonstration at Emerald Equestrian involving Comdt Geoff Curran titled ‘Experts share insights at Emerald event’ carried two incorrect images. The images of Ian Cassells and Louise Duffy were taken at a different, Eventing Ireland, clinic involving Comdt Geoff Curran held at Emerald that week. Images of three riders who kindly gave their time to participate in the demonstration Teagasc facilitated, and to which the report referred, are included in our picture desk pages (96-97) this week. They are Amanda Goldsbury of Cooley Farm, Lt Michael Byrne of the Army Equitation School and Damien Griffin of Lissyegan Stables. We apologise for any confusion the mix-up caused.