NEILUS O’Donoghue bridged a gap of almost 11 years, when winning the EI110 at Clyda last Sunday on his traditionally-bred Irish Sport Horse mare Penwhistle.

O’Donoghue completed on his flatwork mark (31 penalties) with the seven-year-old Island Commander grey, unlike the seven combinations ahead of them after dressage, three of whom were eliminated across the country. The winner was bred in Co Wexford by Edward Ryan out of the KEC Bluejay Diamond mare Lady Bluejay.

While there were 17 other starters in this class, only the second-placed pairing of Corentin Gautier and Paul Donovan’s eight-year-old ISH gelding Sportsfield Vegas (by Sirillo) managed to match the winners’ feat of completing on their first phase score (32).

Co Antrim’s Alex Houston was eliminated across the country with the inexperienced My Atlantic Encore (who was on 26.8 after dressage). However, she did land the five-runner EI110 (Open) on the ISH mare Minty Imp, whose total of 34.4 included 1.6 cross-country time penalties. This 14-year-old daughter of S Creevagh Ferro, who was bred by Catherine Carson out of an unraced thoroughbred mare by Stetchworth, won a CCI3*-L at Kilguilkey House in the summer of 2021.

Seven-hour trip

“It was a seven-hour trip for us down from the north coast but, like a lot of people this season, we’re short on runs,” said Houston. “At this stage of the year, we can’t afford to miss an opportunity when we need so many qualifications to compete. It’s been a difficult year for everyone involved, especially the landowners, I really feel for them after all the early cancellations and losses.

“It was our first trip to Clyda, but I’d been told it was worth the journey and I must admit I was really impressed. We had to go down the day before and I have to say the organisers were so welcoming and friendly and really went above and beyond all weekend for us.

“They had put a huge effort into aerating the whole track to give us the best ground possible, which is so greatly appreciated. The cross-country, which was beautifully-presented, was a proper big and bold galloping track that really suited Minty Imp, so she had a really good spin.

“She’s feeling on top form and just needs her runs in place to get back up the levels. We’re aiming for the next two Kilguilkey Internationals, but this will depend on getting a few more runs in order to tick some boxes.”