GILFORD’s Steven Smith, who has two five-year-olds qualified for the young event horse classes at the Dublin Horse Show next week, had a bit of a rest day last Sunday, if you don’t count driving that is.

Smith rode five horses on Saturday at the new Northern Region venue of Ash Hollow and a similar number on Monday at Hillcrest. There, however, following a fall on the flat with Strangford, the last of his three rides in the DAFM Studbook series class for seven-year-olds, he withdrew his well-placed six and five-year-olds from their respective age classes.

A rare 1-2-3 finish looked on the cards for Smith in that EI115 class. With a small number of cross-country time penalties apiece, he finished first and second respectively, on Susan O’Shea’s Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan gelding Tullaher Paudie (32.6) and Symone Brown’s Jackaroo mare Premier Lara (39.8). Strangford left the cross-country start box on a score of 31.4. All 10 runners in the class are registered as Irish Sport Horses.

“Hillcrest restructured their dressage and show jumping for this fixture which made the event run a lot smoother,” commented Smith.

“However, they weren’t blessed by the weather gods with persistent rain all day causing ground conditions to deteriorate.

“Tullaher Paudie, who won the DAFM seven-year-old studbook class, won the six-year-old final last year and we have found this series fantastic for developing our young horses, allowing them to compete against their peers.

“Both Tullaher Paudie and Premier Lara, who finished second to her stable-companion, will head to Lisgarvan for the 3*S.”

Kearns double

Co Kilkenny-based Robbie Kearns won the other two DAFM classes on Irish Sport Horses owned by Richard Ames.

There were 21 starters in the EI100 for six-year-olds. Two, who were well placed following dressage and show jumping, were withdrawn before the cross-country phase where one was eliminated and four others were penalised in jumping. Here, Kearns claimed the honours when completing on his dressage score with the Sligo Candy Boy gelding Belline Ames To Please (30.5) whose dam is the Germino d’Elle mare Native Des Merveilles.

The Ames/Kearns double came up in the DAFM EI100 class for five-year-olds where the mare Belline Castle Ziggy, a Sligo Candy Boy bay, completed on her winning dressage score (26.5) to hold off the challenge of her stable-companion, the Kearns-partnered Belline Kilbunny Harmony (26.8).

The latter, a grey daughter of Herald 3, is due to start under Kearns in the five-year-old young event horse class at next week’s Dublin Horse Show.