THE 2024 international eventing season drew to a close at the weekend, with Les 5 Etoiles de Pau CCI5* being held in France in far from ideal weather conditions. Weather didn’t matter to Britain’s Caroline Harris who won the first five-star of her career with D.Day after two phenomenal jumping phases.

Their dressage score of 30.3 left them in 22nd after the first phase, but the 10-year-old British-bred gelding by Billy Mexico made short work of the testing cross-country conditions to rise all the way to the top of the leaderboard, which is where they stayed after a clear show jumping round on Sunday.

She held off her compatriot Ros Canter and Izilot DHI – who were going for back-to-back wins at the venue - by just 0.3 of a mark, while world number one Tom McEwen took third place on the podium with the highest placed Irish-bred, Brookfield Quality (OBOS Quality x Cavalier Royale), bred by Sean Kelly in Co Monaghan.

“I’ve worked my whole life to even just get to five-star – it’s taken me till this year to finally get a horse there. He’s not the most talented in any shape or form, but he gives me everything all the time. I owe him everything,” Harris said after her victory.

“I’ve dreamt about it, but I never thought this would ever happen. You’re up against the amazing Tom and Ros… I’m not even anywhere near them, and to come home having beaten them is quite unbelievable.”

D.Day is owned by his breeder Fiona Oliver, with Lucy Matthews, Marie Anne Richardson and Heather Royle. By the show jumping stallion Billy Mexico, the gelding is out of the ex-racehorse Dillus (by Dilum), who ran 13 times on the flat between two and three, finishing second twice, once over five furlongs and once over six, when trained in Britain by Brian Rothwell.

Irish hopes

Seven Irish riders took nine horses to represent Ireland this year, namely five-star debutant Daragh Byrne with Kilcannon Ramiro (ISH); Ian Cassells with Millridge Atlantis (ISH); Dominic Furnell with Bellscross Guy (ISH) and Ivanhoe (ISH); Robbie Kearns with Ballyvillane OBOS (ISH) and Chance Encounter (ISH); Jennifer Kuehnle with Sammy Davis Junior (ISH); Joseph Murphy with Belline Fighting Spirit and Patrick Whelan with Ikoon Lan. All the Irish combinations were accepted at the first horse inspection on Thursday.

Dressage got underway on Thursday, with four of the Irish riding their tests. Kuehnle and Sammy Davis Junior fared best, scoring 31.9, putting them into 11th place at that point. Kearns and Ballyvillane OBOS were next best on 34.6 (19th), followed by Byrne on Kilcannon Ramiro (35.9, 20th) and Furnell on Bellscross Guy (46.1, 24th).

The Irish combinations who rode their tests on Friday, did so in heavy rain. Murphy and Belline Fighting Spirit rode their test during a deluge for a score of 34.8, which put them into 47th place. Cassells and Millbridge Atlantis (Dinan Cascaletto (ISH) x Kereen Sue (ISH) x Warrenstown You 2 (ISH)), bred by Sean O’Loughlin in Co Kilkenny, rode a super test to be awarded the only sub-30 score for Ireland, 28.5, putting the pair into 12th place ahead of cross-country.

Kearns and Chance Encounter scored 36.2 (56th); Whelan and Ikoon Lan scored 38.5 (64th); while Furnell and Ivanhoe scored 46.5 (73rd).

The clear leader after the dressage phase was Canter on Izilot DHI with an incredible score of 19, ahead of her fellow team mates Emily King on Valmy Biats and Oliver Townend on Cooley Rosalent (ISH) (Valent x Bellaney Jewel x Roselier), who were in joint second on 24.6.

The heavy rain during the day meant that changes had to be made to the cross-country course to enable it to run on Saturday. The track was reduced from 45 obstacles down to 34, with the distance changing from 6.5km to 5.2km and the time allowed being set at nine minutes and nine seconds.

Ian Cassells (IRL) and Millridge Atlantis (ISH) pictured on the cross-country at Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, France, where they finished best of the Irish in 25th place \ Nigel Goddard

Challenging

Saturday’s cross-country phase was a test of stamina in the challenging conditions, as there had been further heavy rain overnight. The leaderboard saw a shake up in the placings, as just 55 of the 73 on the start list completed the course and that time allowed proving influential, as none of them managed to do so without incurring time penalties.

The top three after cross-country remained British, but slightly different names and order than previously. Caroline Harris and D.Day moved to the top spot on 40.3, managing to jump clear but not within the time allowed of nine minutes and nine seconds; the pair incurred 10 time-penalties. Canter and Izilot DHI incurred 21.6 for time, putting them on a score of 40.6 for second place at this stage, while Tom McEwen and Brookfield Quality (ISH) finished on 43.0 to slot into third. Townend and Cooley Rosalent (ISH), bred by J W Rosbotham (Armagh) slipped to eighth place on 47.8.

“If I’m honest, I didn’t really want to run because I was a bit scared about the ground, but I know the horse loves the mud and ran very well in it at Lignières recently,” Harris commented after her excellent round. “Some friends of mine gave me a kick up the arse to make me actually go and he was phenomenal, foot-perfect from the start to finish.”

The Irish had a similar experience over the cross-country track, with eight of the nine completing and incurring varying degrees of time faults. Cassells was best again here with the 10-year-old Millridge Atlantis, owned by Fiona Leahy and Gerry Leahy, jumping an impressive clear, but incurring a few time-penalties to finish on a score of 52.1, which put them in 13th place.

Murphy was next best on 64.0 (32nd); Kuehnle was on 65.9 (35th); Whelan was on 66.1 (36th). Byrne, Kearns and his two mounts and Furnell with Bellscross Guy all completed the course.

Welcome sunshine

After so much rain, the sun made a welcome appearance for Sunday’s show jumping phase, where a clear round within the time kept Harris and D.Day in the winning position. Canter and McEwen followed suit to secure an all-British podium.

Cassells finished best for Ireland in 25th place overall on a score of 64.9, after 12 jumping and 0.8 time-penalties in the show jumping. Kuehnle, meanwhile, jumped a super clear round under pressure to jump up the placings and finish 27th (65.9).

Whelan followed in 32nd incurring four faults to finish on 70.1, with Murphy next on 72.0 for 36th place. Byrne is sure to have been pleased with his first-time five-star completion in such testing circumstances, as he finished 44th on a score of 92.1, while Kearns finished 46th with Ballyvillane OBOS on 98.6 and 50th with Chance Encounter on 115.0.

Irish-breds perform at Pau

Seven Irish-bred horses finished within the top 20 at Pau:

3rd Brookfield Quality (ISH) – 2009 gelding by OBOS Quality 004 (OLD) out of Bay Coffey Cavalier (ISH) by Cavalier Royale (HOLST). Breeder: Sean Kelly (Monaghan). Rider: Tom McEwen (GBR)

10th Rehy DJ (ISH) – 2010, Gelding by Tinaranas Inspector (WESTF) out of Rehy Misty (ISH), by Big Sink Hope (TB). Breeder: Noel Russell, Co. Clare.

11th MHS Seventeen (ISH) – 2013 gelding by Callahan (HANN) out of MHS Dancing Queen (ISH) by Quidam Junior I (KWPN). Breeder: Mary Brennan (Kilkenny). Rider: Rosalind Canter (GBR)

15th Cooley Snapchat (ISH) – 2014 gelding by Kannan (KWPN) out of Anabee Arkansas (ISH), by VDL Arkansas (KWPN). Breeder: Alan Wheeler, Limerick. Owners: Angela Ruckner & William Ruckner. Rider: Selina Milnes (GBR)

16th Cooley Rosalent (ISH) – 2014 mare by Valent (KWPN) out of Bellaney Jewel (TB) by Roselier (TB). Breeder: J W Rosbotham (Armagh). Rider: Oliver Townend.

18th Plot Twist B (ISH) – 2015 gelding by Plot Blue (KWPN) out of Safieria (KWPN) by Concorde (KWPN). Breeder: Etter Sportfferde AG (Offaly). Rider: Tom Jackson (GBR)

19th SRS Kan Do (ISH) – 2010 gelding by VDL Arkansas (KWPN) out of La Vie En Rose (ISH) by Touchdown (ISH). Breeder: Michael Donner (Westmeath). Rider: Kylie Roddy (GBR)

Kronenberg

Meanwhile, Ciara O’Connor and Cooley Rebound won the CCI2*-L at Kronenberg in The Netherlands, finishing on their dressage score of 29.7. The pair were in second place after cross-country, but a clear round show jumping moved them into the top spot at the finish. Sian Coleman finished seventh in the CCI4*-S on board Kilroe Frolic.