NORTH Co Dublin’s Jane Whitaker (List 2) paid a rare visit to the Northern Region of Dressage Ireland last Saturday, when she judged alongside the more locally-based pair of Lucinda Webb-Graham (List 4) and Joan Adrain (List 6) at Danescroft.

Carolyn Mellor picked a pleasant, sunny day to introduce Ballett’s Bellissima to the DI circuit and the six-year-old Westphalian mare made an immediate impact, winning both Elementary classes with scores over 70%.

The combination faced nine rivals in the BD43, where they topped Webb-Graham’s scores on 77.24, while Whitaker awarded them a score of 70.56 in the eight-runner DI52. Ballett’s Bellissima is by Ballettmeister out of the Philipo mare Patrizia.

In the day’s better-filled classes, Whitaker’s narrow winner of the five-strong Medium BD69 was Denise Kelly Rice with another Westphalian mare, Pamela Wilson’s Formidable seven-year-old Forvanna (66.97%), while topping her overall leaderboard in the Novice BD28, in which there were 12 starters, was Maggy Williams with her six-year-old bay gelding, Mullyash Moonlight (71.25).

That winning combination was eliminated in the Webb-Graham-judged DI21, where the highest score (71.72%) was achieved by Pauline Faloon on the traditionally-bred Scarlet (Loughehoe Scarlet Fever). This 10-year-old chesnut Irish Sport Horse mare by Loughehoe Guy was bred in Co Galway by Brenda Haverty out of Coevers Abbey (by Coevers Diamond Boy).

There were 13 starters in both non-restricted Preliminary classes. Jonny Mulligan recorded the highest score in the Joan Adrain-judged BD7 with the unregistered ISH gelding Rathdrum Spirit (72.73%), a four-year-old by Spirit House, and Louise Clelland did likewise in the DI18 on board her traditionally-bred grey Rumour Has It (72.08), a seven-year-old grey by Builder’s Delight.

That second class was judged by Lucinda Webb-Graham, as was the Junior Preliminary D18, where Anna McErlean saw off her sole rival when awarded 72.71% for her performance with the unregistered Kilmanahan Cool Star, a seven-year-old bay gelding by Cool Diamond Star. There was just one starter in each of the three young horse classes, where both the five-year-old, the Linda McIlwaine-owned and ridden ISH gelding Roundthorn Oreo, a Vittorio bay, and the Lisa Dundee-partnered six-year-old ISH mare RoundThorn Nice N Easy, a brown daughter of Formidable, scored 69%.

Joan Adrain achieved a score of 67 in the seven-year-old class on board Carolyn Mellor’s Dutch Warmblood gelding VSH Moviestar (by Johnson).