Click over to Millstreet’s Facebook page for photos from the event. Photo © Millstreet International Horse Trials.
Rosalind Canter and Zenshera are your leaders in the inaugural Noel Duggan Engineering CCI3*after dressage at Millstreet International Horse Trials in Ireland, scoring 49.1 and the only score in the 40s. EN readers will remember Ros and the 12-year-old Dutch gelding from their trip to the U.S. to compete on the British Nations Cup team at Great Meadow last month.
The next three riders on the leaderboard are all proudly representing their native Ireland, with Aiofe Clark and Pink Gin (love the name!) in second on 50.8, Ciaran Glynn and November Night in third on 51.3, and Austin O’Connor and Kilpatrick Knight in fourth on 52.6.
Lillian Heard and LCC Barnaby, our sole American representatives in the CCI3*, sit in 12th place on 58.7 after the ground jury did not exactly agree on the marks for her dressage test with the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding.
Photo via Lillian Heard
“That was probably my best test to date — very relaxed and accurate. I came out of the ring super happy. Unfortunately, one of the judges scored me 16 points worse than the other two judges, so my score is higher than I wanted, but he is still in 12th and all the scores are close together. I imagine the placings will shake up quite a bit before it’s all over.”
This won’t be a dressage show based on the look of Mike Etherington-Smith’s course, which you can virtually tour at this link. “The course is really spectacular,” Lillian said. “It’s tough, long, well built and beautiful. The ground is perfect. I’m very excited to get out there.”
Looking to the Connolly’s Red Mills CIC3* division, Izzy Taylor and Be Touchable, a 10-year-old Dutch gelding owned by Sophie Dodds, took the lead this morning on 39.5, the only score in the 30s in dressage, and held onto first place with a clear show jumping round later in the day.
Sinead Halpin and the Manoir de Carneville Syndicate’s Manoir de Carneville sat in fifth place after dressage on 45.8 and had one rail down over James Tarrant’s show jumping course to currently sit in seventh place on 49.8 ahead of tomorrow’s cross country.
The view for today’s show jumping. Photo via Lillian Heard.
“It was a nice arena and a pretty good course. Our course designer seemed to like eight-stride bending lines, as there were three, but the horses overall jumped well,” Sinead said. “Tate jumped well and had the second down, which was unfortunate because it was just a bit casual. The course tomorrow looks like it will be influential. If we can finish sub-50, I’ll be thrilled.”
Kylie Lyman and Joan Nichols’ Lup the Loop scored 52.0 in dressage this morning and jumped clear in show jumping to remain on that score in 10th place. “The marks in dressage weren’t the best we’ve received at the level, but it was one of our best tests so far despite a break in the extended trot. We both have plenty to work on over the winter but are hopefully on our way,” Kylie said.
“He was super in the show jumping, careful and rideable — the course was beautiful and asked plenty of questions. I’m looking forward to the cross country tomorrow. The course looks amazing with a lot to do and has great ground.”
In the Eventing Ireland CIC2*, Irish-based American Brianne Stanley and her homebred Bit of Business added one rail and one time penalty in show jumping to their dressage score of 66.3 and will look to gain ground on the leaderboard tomorrow.
Photo via Lillian Heard
There is no live stream from Millstreet, but you can listen to live cross country commentary; check for the link tomorrow on this page. CIC2* cross country starts at 10 a.m. BST, 5 a.m. BST, followed by the CIC3*, CCI3* and CCI2*.
Brianne and Bit of Business go out at 10:38 a.m. BST, 5:38 a.m. EST (click here for the CIC2* start times). Kylie and Lup the Loop go out at 12:51 p.m. BST, 7:51 a.m. EST, and Sinead and Manoir de Carneville go out at 1:18 p.m. BST, 8:18 a.m. EST (click here for the CIC3* start times). Lillian and LCC Barnaby go out at 2:58 BST, 9:58 a.m. EST (click here for the CCI3* start times).
(Photos of our American riders have been difficult to come by, so we apologize to our Millstreet contingent for the lack of competition photos in this report. If you are a photographer at Millstreet and can help EN with photos, please email [email protected].)
Best of luck to everyone tomorrow! Go Eventing.
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