KATIE Nallon enjoyed a superb weekend at the Northern Indoor Championships in Eglinton, where she captured both the Irish Masters and the Grand Prix, as well as the 1.30m Open Championship.

Speaking after her wins, the 17-year-old junior rider told The Irish Field: “We are all absolutely delighted, and exhausted, after the weekend.

“We brought eight horses to the show and every one of them went really well. I won the Grand Prix with Seamus Heverin’s MVS Celtic Emperor. I got him at the start of the year in March.

“I jumped him in some of the RDS qualifiers and he qualified for Dubin in the young rider classes and then we just continued to bring him on from there.

“We knew he had a lot of talent and we stepped him up to this class, just this weekend, and it paid off. He did the six and seven-year-olds at the Cavan Indoor Championships and was in the final, it’s quite big so we knew that he was capable.

“He has a great temperament. He’s always willing to do anything you ask him to. He’s a lovely horse. He has a big stride, so he covers the ground well.

“I also had a new ride for me, Tara Brandon’s mare CW Luiboutain in the Grand Prix, she was fourth there and clear in the first round of the Masters.

“I won the Irish Masters with Sandra Duffy’s Ecklands Helado. This is the second year in a row I’ve won this class, I won it last year with our own gelding Javas True Colors (Luidam x Courage 2).

“One of the final fences on the track was 1.60m, so it was wonderful to win it.

"My plan going into the jump-off was to try to enjoy it, I knew that, if I went clear I would win it, so I’m delighted it worked out.

“She is a 10-year-old mare and is a real pleasure to ride. She has won a lot of good classes for me and I’m so grateful to have her.

“In the Open Championship, I rode John Philbin’s Carramore Sibon (Sibon W x Glacier Mint), which I’ve only been riding since June. He has a lovely temperament and is really nice to ride. He is just eight years old.

“I also rode another eight-year-old in that class, Ann Igoe’s Claire’s Delight (OBOS Quality 004 x Clover Hill), bred by Eamon Gleeson. She finished in sixth place. She was great all weekend, she’s so consistent, we’re delighted with her too.

“The plan now is to do the Young Rider show in Cavan and go on to the November show there, hopefully we can continue to do well.

“I’m privileged to have the great horses and owners that I have, and am looking forward to seeing how they all develop.”

Grand Prix

Sunday afternoon’s feature was the 1.40m Eglinton Grand Prix for the award of The Kelly Trophy, which was sponsored by Eglinton Equestrian Club to the tune of £3,000.

A starting field of 14 was reduced to just four for the jump-off. Five combinations had a single fence down in the first round, while three more had two on the ground.

Nallon was first to go in the decider riding Seamus Heverin’s home-bred gelding MVS Celtic Emperor.

By Celtic Hero Z out of Vitae Lux, by Lux Z, the seven-year-old produced a confident, mature round, crossing the finish in a time of 38.53 to set the pace.

Nallon and her second mount Tara Brandon’s eight-year-old mare CW Luiboutain (Luidam x Captain Clover) were next in. They had one fence down for four faults in 41.25, which would put them into eventual fourth place.

Third to go was Joshua Lynch aboard Amanda Lynch’s 10-year-old Belgian-bred gelding Otis Van Het Weyenshof (Kannan x Cabochon). The duo managed to leave all the fences intact, breaking the beams in 41.86 for the runner-up spot.

Nallon and Sandra Duffy’s mare Ecklands Helado (Cobra x HHS BR Charlton) carried four faults forward from the first round, but were clear in the second in a very fast 37.46, which put them into third place.

Fifth place went to the Dutch-bred mare Holga (Eldorado van de Zeshoek x Campione), ridden and owned by Andrew Farren.

Ben Walsh took sixth place riding Ronan McLaughlin’s eight-year-old mare Imcarthina (Mylord Carthago x Quintero).