Paul Tapner, clearly thrilled to be standing on the top of the podium at Tattersalls! Photo by Prime Photography for Tattersalls International.
Three horse and rider combinations withdrew before show jumping in the The Irish Field CCI3* at Tattersalls International Horse Trials and Country Fair, including, unfortunately, overnight leader Padraig McCarthy (IRL) and Mr. Chunky. This put Paul Tapner (AUS) and Prince Mayo in the hot seat, but by the time it was there turn to jump they had plenty of breathing room as the jump crew had been quite busy picking up rails.
In the end, Paul and his and Fred and Penny Barker’s 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding jumped a clear round to finish on their dressage score of 44.8. The next closest competitor was Flora Harris (GBR) and Caroline Paul’s 10-year-old Irish-bred stallion Cooley Lord Lux. They also jumped clear to move up from eighth to second on a finishing score of 60.9.
The show jump course proved to a tough one for many competitors. The only other clear was 12th place finishers Fiona Breach (GBR) and Nikki Neal’s Drumhowan Black Magic. Michael Owen (GBR) and the 16-year-old Irish Sport Horse The Highland Prince, owned by G Mayer Plant Hire and Mrs. E A Mayer, finished third in their first FEI event since Blenheim last September. They moved up from fourth despite nine penalties added in the final phase and switched places on the leaderboard with Andrew Hoy and his and Barbara Keller’s The Blue Frontier, who picked up a gutting 20 jumping penalties.
Padraig McCarthy and Simon Porloe. Photo by Prime Photography for Tattersalls International.
The George Mernagh Memorial CIC3* ran cross country today, and with no double-clear rounds recorded, the final results came down to time penalties. Austin O’Connor (IRL) and Eugene McKenna and Wendie Foster’s 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Kilpatrick Knight had led the division for the first two phases, but just a few seconds too slow across the country bumped the pair down to finish second on 51.9.
Padraig McCarthy (IRL) and Simon Porloe, a 16-year-old Polish gelding owned by Christopher and Sarita Perkins, Padraig and Lucy McCarthy, were the fastest of the day to move up from fourth after show jumping and win this the final Olympic selection trials for the Irish on a 49.6. Jonty Evans and Cooley Rorkes Drift, a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse stallion owned by Jonty and Fiona Elliott, finished third on 54.9, having added 9.6 time penalties on cross country.
That’s a wrap on Tattersalls 2016! You can catch up on quite a bit of video action on the Tatts Horse Trials Youtube channel.
Tattersalls Links: Website, Live Scores, Live Stream
Irish Field CCI3*
George Mernagh Memorial CIC3*
