Excitement as eventing season kicks off in fine style at Tyrella
Tyrella 1 welcomed competitors from all over the island to the first event of the season
The eventing season in Ireland kicked off on Saturday in very fine style, with a full house at the magnificent Corbett estate of Tyrella.
No matter how many times you’ve been to this Co Down venue, the magic just seems to increase with every single visit. The atmosphere was carnival-like, with tangible palpitations of excitement. Even the weather stayed relatively dry to allow the large crowd of spectators to stand on the hilltop and watch action around much of the course.
The relocation of the dressage arenas worked well and provided extra space for warm up, as well as a quiet and tranquil setting for this first phase.
There was a very strong line up of 26 competitors, who came before International Judge, Vanda Stewart, in the EI 115 Open class, where Ian Cassells opened the class at 7.29am with ‘Master Point’, a 12-year-old ‘Pointilliste’ gelding, which he owns jointly with Bridget and Brian McGing. The combination scored 27.5, which was their completion score and good enough for second place. Ian also placed third and fourth in the class with ‘Kelly’s Quality’ and ‘Millridge Atlantis’ respectively.
However, it was John Tilley and Kilkenny International’s ‘Licence to Cooley’, who scooped the top prize with an incredible 20.5 dressage score, to which he added just 2.8 cross-country time penalties to give him a 4.2 advantage.
Just three starters came before Vanda Stewart in the EI 115 class, where Sam Watson had a runaway victory with ‘Nominator’, an eight-year-old Thoroughbred gelding by ‘Juke Box Jury’, which last raced in October 2022.
Steven Smith certainly made his presence felt in the EI 110 Open class, where he took three of the top four placings. Rosie Gomes was most impressed with ‘Tullaher Paudie’, an eight-year-old gelding by ‘Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan’ and owned by Susan O’Shea, who spent the day fence judging with Shauna-Lee McCann. Steven added nothing to his first phase score to finish on the impressive 19.8. Second place was awarded to ‘CJO Kann Surprise’, an eight-year-old ‘Kannan’ gelding, jointly owned by Caroline Overend and Carla Leitch, who has come on board as a NR sponsor for 2025 with her business, Clogher Valley Dental Care.
The Lyttle family from Co Kildare were out in force at Tyrella, where John judged two classes, his wife Ger scribed and their son Charlie did dressage Call Up. John’s first class was the EI 110, where Alex Houston rose to the fore with ‘My Atlantic Encore’, their home-bred mare by ‘Centrestage’, which last won at the inaugural event at Ash Hollow.
Aaron McCusker’s show jumping tracks proved influential in this class and Alex added four penalties to her flatwork mark to give her a completion score of 33, just over two marks ahead of Erin McClernon and ‘Seapatrick Beachball’, who have developed a very impressive record at this level.
Lucinda Webb-Graham had the pleasure of judging the 13 Junior 110 riders, where she was most impressed with 17-year-old Ciara O’Connor from Wexford riding Cooley Farms’ 10-year-old Dutch-bred gelding, ‘Cooley Rebound’. This partnership, which won the CCI2*-L class at Kronenberg last October, gained the best dressage score of the day at 17.8, which was their finishing mark. Carla Williamson took second place, nine points adrift, with ‘Goldman’, Jane Hancock’s unraced Thoroughbred gelding.
Although there were just two starters in the EI 110P class, the winner, by a large margin, was Kitty Cullen with ‘Greenaun Russel’, Lisa Donnan’s nine-year-old Connemara Pony.
Amateur Supremo Nichola Wray, who at the start of the day delivered an enormous cake for the volunteers, depicting the famous Tyrella sand dunes in springtime, went on to win the three starter Amateur 110 class with ‘Dylan’, hotly pursued by Rachael O’Callaghan and ‘Gervada’, who finished in second place.
Eighteen Amateur 100 riders took on the challenge of seeing who was going to claim the top spot. In the end, it was Katie McKee from Comber, who finished middle spot on the podium with ‘Summit’, her 12-year-old ‘Je T’Aime Flamenco’ gelding, bred by June Burgess. This combination, who were never out of the top five all of last year, added nothing to their first-phase mark of 23.3. They were followed just over two points adrift by Ciarrai Rice and ‘Lady J’, who are synonymous with success.
Kitty Cullen was back in the winners’ enclosure again in the EI 100 P class, where she snatched victory by a margin of 0.8 from Susan O’Brien and ‘Ballinagore Aaron’. Kitty was riding Jane Hancock’s ‘Coppenagh Spring Sparrow’, with whom Kitty had three wins out of five outings last year.
The top six placings in the EI 100 J class were very tight, with only 1.3 dividing the six. Top of the Group was 17-year-old Katie Gibbons from Ballinasloe, riding ‘Milchem Free Spirit’, a 13-year-old mare, owned by Marie Dunne. Despite adding four show jumping penalties, they finished very fractionally ahead of another very successful combination, Eimhear Donaghy and ‘TMS Freedom’.
Huge numbers in the EI 100 class required a two-way split, with Amanda Goldsbury winning both sections for Cooley Farms. Top of the ‘A’ section was ‘Touch of Cooley’ on a score of 21.3, with both jumping phases clear. This very striking grey six-year-old mare is by the Dutch sire, ‘Untouchable 27’, and this was her first performance under Eventing Ireland rules.
Stablemate ‘Castlefield Cooley’, also appearing for the first time under EI rules, occupied second place in the ‘B’ section. Amanda won by a six-point margin with Cooley Farms’ ‘Cooley Will Do’, a six-year-old mare by ‘I’m Special de Muze’.
Sixteen combinations in the EI 90 Amateur class appeared before Coreen Abernethy, who reserved her top mark for a rider very familiar with red rosettes - Christine Findlay riding ‘Parklodge Over and Under’. Although this partnership proved very successful in the Baileys Horse Feeds Flexi Eventing Series, Tyrella 1 was actually their first ‘official’ outing and clearly they both took it in their stride, finishing on their first-phase mark of 21.3, just half a mark ahead of the very accomplished duo of Kaiti McCann and ‘Boyher Cookies N Crème’.
Another debut partnership of Emma Newsam and ‘Wellan Kilcooley’, took victory in the EI 90 class, with a completion score of 31.5. This five-year-old gelding is by the Thoroughbred stallion, ‘Lucarelli’. They finished 0.3 ahead of Ian McCluggage riding ‘Meadowspring’, an eight-year-old gelding bred by Jan Martin and owned by her daughter, Lindsay. This combination had a very successful 2024 season, which included a trio of consecutive wins.
It is always very encouraging to see the younger generation out competing and, if the EI 90 P class is a fair barometer, then the future looks bright. Five of the 10 starters had sub-30 completion scores, with the win going to 14-year-old Kilkeel girl, Kelsea Maginnis, riding ‘Atlantic Clover Star’, a gelding by the Irish Sport Horse, ‘Moores Clover’. They also had a victory on their last outing at Ash Hollow. On this occasion, they finished on their dressage score, just over one point clear of another young partnership, who are making a great name for themselves, Charlie Watson and ‘Leamore Girl’, the reigning EI 80 P Grassroots Champions.
To assist in the even distribution of tests amongst the dressage judges, the EI 80 class was divided into two sections. Heading up the ‘A’ group was school teacher, Kerry Finlay with ‘The Ladies Choice’, a seven-year-old gelding, making their eventing debut and finishing on their dressage score of 31.3. Baileys Horse Feeds 2025 Champions, Catherine Cowan and ‘Lady Remarque’, finished in second place, just over one point adrift.
Another fan and great supporter of the Flexi Eventing League, Karina McVeigh and ‘Cococabana’, won the ‘B’ section with a seven-point margin over second-placed Jonathan West and ‘Monmurry Sovereign’, a gelding owned by Orla Sheehan.
With almost 300 competitors, the pressure was on to finish before the setting sun and a very slick team certainly pulled out all stops to make that happen.
Thank you to the large group of volunteers, who covered all the tasks throughout the day. Saturday was a long day for everyone and to see people still smiling as they were returning their blue boxes was mind-blowing.
The Stewarding/ Scoring/ XC / control team were also in high spirits, as they were finishing the usual end of event debrief and locking up at almost 8pm. That’s incredible, given the fact that the day started at minutes after 5am.
A huge THANK YOU to the following folk, who provided amazing prizes to incentivise the volunteers and let them know how much their efforts are appreciated:
- Kim Constable, once again, provided £250 cash
- Elaine McKee provided a £50 M&S voucher
- Downpatrick Racecourse provided two tickets to the Randox Ulster National Raceday on March 30
- Judy Maxwell provided great excitement to the Fence Judges by placing a scratch card in each of their blue boxes AND there were winners!
The Northern Region extends a HUGE thank you to ALL the amazing sponsors, many of whom have been on board for a long time, but many who have joined this year and organisers look forward to a long and happy relationship with them all.
Everyone also wishes a speedy recovery to two Northern Region members:
Emily Corbett, who has now been discharged from hospital following surgery, and to Abbie Cummins, who is back home, having been taken to hospital following her nasty fall.
Everyone hopes to see them both back very soon.
RESULTS
Saturday, March 22
Tyrella 1
EI 115 Open:
1) John Tilley, Licence to Cooley; 2) Ian Cassells, Master Point; 3) Ian Cassells, Kelly’s Quality; 4) Ian Cassells, Millridge Atlantis; 5) Steven Smith, Newferry Jagermeister; 6) Steven Smith, Strangford.
EI 115:
1) Sam Watson, Nominator; 2) Jim Newsam, Tullybee Louie; 3) Andrew Napier, Hazeldene Elsa.
EI 110 Open:
1) Steven Smith, Tullaher Paudie; 2) Steven Smith, CJO Kann Surprise; 3) Lucy McDowell, Glenvine Codename R; 4) Steven Smith, Fleur de Lis; 5) Jack O’Haire, Christopher Robin 2; 6) Suzanne Hagan, Loughview Commander.
EI 110:
1) Alex Houston, My Atlantic Encore; 2) Erin McClernon, Seapatrick Beachball; 3) Sam Watson, Shanbo Jack Time; 4) Rebekah McKinstry, HVL Jackpot; 5) Sarah Ennis, Dolmen Stellor Design; 6) Alyssa O’Neill, DS Candescent.
EI 110 J:
1) Ciara O’Connor, Cooley Rebound; 2) Carla Williamson, Goldman; 3) Paddy Smullen, Avalon Romulus; 4) Ben Connors, Zuperlative; 5) Carla Williamson, Powers; 6) Lucy Keane, Ballycreen Kings Mistress.
EI 110P:
1) Kitty Cullen, Greenaun Russel; 2) Tadgh O’Haire, Ballinagore Hero.
EI 110 Amateur:
1) Nichola Wray, Dylan; 2) Rachael O’Callaghan, Gervada.
EI 100 Amateur:
1) Katie McKee, Summit; 2) Ciarrai Rice, Lady J; 3) Denis Currie, Arodstown Aramis; 4) Nicola Martin, Dundrum Misty Blue; 5) Louise Duffy, Merrycorner Rio By Night; 6) Lucy Toombs, Bluestone Ice.
EI 100P:
1) Kitty Cullen, Coppenagh Spring Sparrow; 2) Susan O’Brien, Ballinagore Aaron; 3) Suzie Cosgrove, Kilcoltrim Swift; 4) Zara Reid, Greylands Diamond Girl; 5) Gracie Thompson -Logan, Fiddain Dash; 6) Maya Constable, Rockon Pedro.
EI 100J:
1) Katie Gibbons, Milchem Free Spirit; 2) Eimhear Donaghy, TMS Freedom; 3) Sophie May Nolan, My Ballybrack Blue; 4) Anna McErlean, Premier Lara; 5) Hannah Groves, MMF Churchill; 6) Carla Williamson, Karolita O.
EI 100 ‘A’:
1) Amanda Goldsbury, Touch of Cooley; 2) Amanda Goldsbury, Castlefield Cooley; 3) Casey Webb, Safe Harbour; 4) Elaine O’Connor, Tullymurry Masha; 5) Tegan White-McMorrow, Ballinamurra Sunflight; 6) Lucca Stubington, Roundthorn Minerva.
EI 100 ‘B’:
1) Amanda Goldsbury, Cooley Will Do; 2) Sarah Dowley, Manhatton 19; 3) Lucca Stubington, Glencarne; 4) Hannah Blakely, Squeaks Bubble; 5) Tegan White McMorrow, Peregrine Point; 6) Casey Webb, Knockaleery Mill Leat.
EI 100 T:
1) Amanda Goldssbury, Portofino.
EI 90 Amateur:
1) Christine Findlay, Parklodge Over and Under; 2) Kaiti McCann, Boyher Cookies N Crème; 3) Fiona McKenna, Little Lexi Lady; 4) Wendy Findlay, Hill Farm Pebble; 5) Jonathan McCallion, San Sebastian; 6) Amy Salmon, Clonaslee Captain Hawk Wing.
EI 90:
1) Emma Newsam, Wellan Kilcooley; 2) Ian McCluggage, Meadowspring; 3) Poppy McMurray, Finding Nemo; 4) Molly Goodwin, Our Dream W; 5) Freya Kennedyh, Shanvey Doonard Delight; 6) Lucca Stubington, Magic Clemantine.
EI 90P:
1) Kelsea Maginnis, Atlantic Clover Star; 2) Charlie Watson, Leamore Girl; 3) Beth Coveney, Coppenagh Russel; 4) Emily Turley, Budore Mystic Legend; 5) Sarah Smullen, Macs Silver Cookie; 6) Eve Lindsay, Glenomore Tom.
EI 90 T:
1) Jonathan Steele, Bugs Melodie; 2) Max Rusby, Larkins Luck; 3) Katherine Shields, DS Bouncer 007; 4) Harry Purdy, Crannaghmore Junior; 5) Jessica Perry, Lisnasure; 6) Caitlin Brown, Rua Rebel.
EI 80 ‘A’:
1) Kerry Finlay, The Ladies Choice; 2) Catherine Cowan, Lady Remarque; 3) Holly Blythe, Mano of Deerpark; 4) Martha McMurray, Woodrow Rosewood; 5) Olivia Stewart, RF Oblivion; 6) Jessica Byrne, Carry On Platinums Edition.
EI 80 ‘B’:
1) Karina McVeigh, Cococabana; 2) Jonathan West, Monmurry Sovereign; 3) Lynsey Kennedyh, Izzey Miyake; 4) Ella Rose Sands, Drumlane Dick; 5) Annie Davis, AJ Lightening Cavalier.
EI 80 T:
1) Heather Champion, Drumcara Red; 2) Giovanna Roelle, Derrynoose Lady; 3) Molly O’Connor, Drumgooland Grace; 4) Jessica Perry, Vinchy; 5) Olivia Johns, B Ok Candy Girl.