DESPITE a disappointing start to the national eventing season with two cancellations to date, Irish riders are getting down to business across the pond.

Sarah Ennis and Action Lady M brought the luck of the Irish with her to the Lincolnshire Horse Trials on St Patrick’s weekend, winning the Advanced Intermediate when adding just 14.4 cross-country time penalties to her dressage score of 33.3 to finish on 47.7.

Eighth after dressage on Action Lady M, Ennis was one of only four riders to complete all three phases with numerous withdrawals among the 18 combinations who performed dressage tests. Ennis was also third in the same class on her second ride, Grantstown Jackson, when she added 18 cross-country time penalties to a dressage score of 36.6 to finish on 54.6.

“Both Lottie and Jackson were fantastic in testing conditions,” Ennis posted after the win. “The luck of the Irish was with us on St Patrick’s Day. Two super double clears to finish in first and third place. Definitely a nice way to start the year.”

Another Irish winner was Patrick Whelan, who claimed the Open Novice (section J) with Altitu on his dressage score of 23. He also claimed third in the Open Novice (section H) with his second ride, Ikoon Lan, behind Jennifer Kuehnle and Polly Blue Eyes, who were second on their dressage score of 29.5.

Bonnie O’Neill and Woody Sammy finished in seventh place in the Pony Trial and Susie Berry gave her young horses Lackroe Quality and Mayfair TN a run in the novice class at the event.

Kronenburg standings

Ennis, Whelan, Kuehnle and Berry went straight from Lincolnshire to the Outdoor Horst CC14* event at Kronenburg, Netherlands, which is currently underway with a whopping 29 Irish combinations in the mix.

At time of print, Berry and Wellfields Lincoln were in second in the CCI4*-L on 28.7 after dressage, with Joseph Murphy and Barberstown Castle Rehy in sixth on 32.7 and Kuehnle and Polly Blue Eyes in seventh on 34.1. Padraig McCarthy lay in 13th with Pomp N Circumstance, Berry and Kilcandra Capitol were in 15th on 39.1 and Tara Dixon and Master Smart were 18th on 41.1.

Aoife Clark and Calahari were sitting in pole position in the CCI3*-L on their dressage score of 27.1, more than two marks ahead of their closest rivals.

In the CCI4*-S, Sarah Ennis and Action Lady M, who were 22nd after dressage on 32.1, climbed into 13th place after they show jumped clear. Jennifer Kuehnle and Sammy Davis Junior were sitting in 28th after adding four faults to their dressage score of 31.9 and the next best placed Irish riders with all to play for in the cross country were Aoife Clark and Sportsfield Freelance (31st), Patrick Whelan and Altitu (32nd) and Susie Berry and Clever Trick (33rd). Robbie Kearns (Ballyvillane OBOS), and Cathal Daniels (CDS Cairnview Romolu) were also sitting within the top 40 in this class.

The best placed Irish rider in the CCI3*-S after dressage and show jumping was Danielle McCormack riding Hildare Easton d’Eclipse, who jumped clear and had a dressage mark of 34.8 to earn 22nd place overnight.

McCormack was also the best placed Irish rider in the CCI2*-S in 19th after dressage on Hildare Regarde Moi and 21st on MGH Hildare Harlequin.

The event can be followed at: rechenstelle.de/en/agenda/2024/kronenberg/

Cancellation

In local eventing news, the Tyrella 1 event due to be held this weekend was cancelled early this week, making it two for two cancellations so far this season after Frankfort was canned last week. Posting on Facebook the organisers said: “Sadly, we are having to make the very difficult call to cancel Tyrella 1 due to the continuing rain, particularly during last night, with more forecast in the coming days. Our principal problem is the parking field .. parts of that field are currently under water, so we could not accommodate the number of vehicles.

“We know how disappointing this is for everyone but we look forward to seeing you at Tyrella 2.”