BRASH VICTORY FOR VISITING SCOT

Scott Brash & Bon Ami

Scott Brash made his visit to the CSI2* fixture at Mullingar well worth his while when scoring a win for Great Britain on Bon Ami in the Mullingar Equestrian and Showjumping Ireland sponsored Premier Grand Prix.In soaring tmperatures the crowds of spectators were kept on the edge of their seats when a two way decider saw Brash pitted against ten times National Grand Prix Champion Francis Connors for the lion’s share of the €20,000 on offer.

Twenty three year old Brash is no stranger to Irish shores having proven the one to beat at last year’s Balmoral International. Victory in the Balmoral Grand Prix on his own ten year old gelding Intertoy Z saw him also rewarded as leading rider of the 2008 show. To date this will be the Scottish based riders third CSI2* Grand Prix victory this year having also featured in Villamoura earlier in the season.

Course designer Tom Holden built a course that demanded precision riding with tricky lines requiring concentration from riders and horses. The three doubles played their part in narrowing down the forty strong field while the last fence, a formidable oxer set away from the pocket denied several riders their chance in the clocked round. The open water, set early in the course, provided few problems with only two competitors falling foul of the obstacle.

Aidan Killeen, consistently in the placings over the weekend, played pathfinder with the Harlequin du Carel sired Du Noble. The pair put in a foot perfect round marred only by the triple bar which also caught former Mullingar victors Stephen Smith and Laraghlease Western Desert. However a time of 67.52 guaranteed Killeen another rosette for his weekend with his single error proving sufficient for fifth place on this occasion. 

Aidan Killeen & Du Noble

Olive Clarke looked set to deliver the first fault free performance of the day with the Cruising sired nine year old Starboard but the final fence came down.

Clarke proved out of luck on her second mount Spitfield when taking a brick off the wall but with the clock recording 68.39 the Galway based rider picked up her share of the money in eventual sixth.

Olive Clarke & Starboard

Neal Fearon looked the business aboard Mary Lou Cassone’s Epsom Du Rochefort right up until the final obstacle. The pair finished in the lower placings while Tholm Keane proved the fastest of the four faulters on Warrenstown Well Aware for the yellow rosette when erring at the same obstacle.

The weekends victorious pairs failed to feature when both proved unlucky on the day. Joan Greene, winner of Saturday’s 1.40m class, supplied a classy performance with the French bred Biscaya D’Eversem but chipped a back bar.

Peter Smyth, a clear cut winner of Sunday’s Speed took an unfortunate tumble when Hygie Du Golf lost his footing on the approach to the triple bar.

Joan Greene & Biscaya D'Eversem

Portugal’s Miguel Bravo aboard HHS Fortuna and Edward Doyle with Flexing put in solid rounds but again a single error denied them a jump off spot when the second part of a double was left minus its top rail. They finished fourth and seventh respectively.

Francis Connors provided the first clear with a exhibition round on the Sean Hayden owned Lundy Lad. Connors has produced the gelding since a six year old and Monday’s Grand Prix was a step up for the inexperienced Olympic Lux sired nine year old who had only moved up to 1.40m level as of last year. Connors looked set to win outright when no other clears were forthcoming and spectators had to wait twenty horses before Brash negotiated the course successfully to guarantee a jump off.

Francis Connors & Lundy Lad

Connors was at a disadvantage as first to go in the jump off but put the pressure on when again delivering the goods. A fault free round over the shortened and raised course from Lundy Lad with a time of 41.23 left it all to play for. Brash upped the pace with Bon Ami who lived up to his name when leaving all the poles in their cups with time to spare when breaking the beams in 38.66 to ensure the victory.

All words and images copyright Jumpinaction.net 2009