Laura Collett (GBR) and Dacapo on their way to securing victory in the Horse Sport Ireland CCI4*L at Millstreet International Horse Trials (5th June)
Badminton Horse Trials champion Laura Collett added two more International wins to her record this afternoon when taking the honours in the Horse Sport Ireland CCI4*L and Noel C. Duggan Engineering CCI3*L.
The Tokyo Olympic Gold medallist led from the outset in both competitions and clear rounds in the deciding show-jumping phase saw her secure victory in the CCI4*L with Dacapo, having added just 2.4 cross country time penalties to her dressage score. A short time later, Collett completed the double, when showjumping clear in the CCI3*L with Outback to finish on their dressage score, bringing to an end a great weekend of eventing action for more than 320 horses, nearly 100 of which had crossed the Irish Sea.
Laura Collett (GBR) and Outback receive their prize after winning the Noel C. Duggan Engineering CCI3*L at Millstreet International Horse Trials. (L-R: Jane Holderness Roddam (Ground Jury), Sue Baxter (Ground Jury President), Diana Chappell (owner) and David Lee (Ground Jury)
U.S.-based Australian rider Clayton Fredericks didn’t quite get the podium finish he was positioned for with Diana Crawford’s, Hugh Wrigley’s and his own FE Coldplay, with two poles lowered today in show jumping, but the pair still ended the weekend inside the top 10. Canadian rider Dana Cooke finished just outside the top 20 with Mississippi.
Not quite the finish we were looking for with 2 down today for 9th place in the 4*L @millstreet_horse but still incredibly proud of FE Coldplay and his efforts this week 🌟
At only 10 years of age he has made his first trip overseas and gave me one of my best ever XC rounds cruising around a tough track and finishing full of running
Ceaser will now head to the UK for a little holiday and then look forward to another big competition in 🇬🇧 in September 🤞
Huge congratulations to @bill_levett_eventing for his great finish in the 4*L and thanks for looking after our horses on the trip back to the UK 🇬🇧
#fredericksequestrianinternational #fecoldplay #fehorses #ontheroadagain
Posted by Fredericks Equestrian International on Sunday, June 5, 2022
The Donagh Hickey Motors CCI2*-L saw a win for New Zealand, with Jonelle Price taking the honours on the seven-year-old Fernhill Kankan, owned by Terese Miller and Julia Lukas. The pair finished on their dressage scores ahead of three Irish riders, Aoife Clark (Fetiche des Rouges), Clodie Coen (Union Fortunus) and Godfrey Gibbons (Mitchem Free Spirit).
“She is very much my type,” said Jonelle of the smart black mare. “She’s athletic and when Carol Gee [producer] sent me the video I loved her straight away. She’s pretty green still, but I took her to Spain to jump on the Vejer de la Frontera series which really set her up. The plan was to come here and tick the box with a view to going to Le Lion d’Angers [World Young Horse Championships] in October if she is ready.”
Short-format classes
The final scoresheet was tight in the Foran Equine CCI3*-S and at the very end of the cross-country phase victory eventually went to the experienced Irish team rider Clare Abbott on Sarah Riley’s German-bred DHI No Fear, a nine-year-old by Non Stop.
Another big Irish name, Sam Watson, was in second place, just 0.7pen in arrears, on Ballyneety Rocketman and, in an all-Ireland line-up, the overnight leader Ian Cassells finished third on Rosconnell Alto having clocked up just too many time penalties.
Josh Williamson, 15, led the Equine Warehouse CCI2*-S for Ponies and clinched it with just one rail down on Ardeo Fireman. Ben Connors was second with a clear on Cornafest Fred and Tom Nestor dropped one place to third with a rail down on Tullaree Ruby Tuesday.
The Noel C. Duggan Engineering CCI2*-S saw Emma Egan record the first FEI win of her career with Ballytoher Sabrina after recording one of just three clear cross country rounds inside the optimum time. The leader after the first two phases, Alison Holden (Lates Eddie) dropped down the order with a steady cross-country round for 15.6 time penalties.
Based just twenty minutes from the Green Glens Arena, Sian Coleman took the honours in the inaugural CCI1* Intro class, sponsored by Carr & Day & Martin with Kilroe Frolic, and the prestigious Eventing Ireland CCI2*-S for young horses resulted in a deserved victory for US visitor Cornelia Dorr with DHI Qyaracolle Z.
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Other North American riders competing at Millstreet this weekend included:
- Gillian Beale King, who finished sixth in the CCI3*-L with Richard Ames’ Rebellient as well as 13th with Mr. Ames’ RCA Royal Mist (and 30th with Derena Super Star, also owned by Richard Ames)
- Logan Duffort, 17th overall in the CCI4*-S with her own and Georgina Barrett’s Voltage de la Nouee
- Cornelia Dorr, in addition to her Young Horse 2*-S win, also finished just outside the top 20 in the CCI2*-S division with the 8-year-old By-The-Sea, owned by Cornelia and Ann Wehrle
“It’s been a great weekend of sport and we’re thrilled so many leading international riders came to Ireland,” said Millstreet Director Thomas Duggan. “Let’s hope we see some of them in the medals at the world championships and perhaps some of the young horses we’ve seen going brilliantly will be medallists of the future.”
Millstreet International H.T. (Millstreet, Ireland): [Website] [Scoring]Â [Live Stream Archive]
