A double bill of the Connolly’s Red Mills Spring Tour brought the popular league to a conclusion last weekend. Following a strong performance throughout the tour with Sumas Taloubet, it was Galway native Sven Hadley who took the 2017 title, while Shannon Mackenzie took the runner-up spot and John Floody took third. Taking the overall young rider prize was Mikey Pender, while Vickie Anderson took the leading Botanica pro am title.

The first of the two rounds took place on Saturday at Coilog Equestrian with a strong field of 31 combinations lining out to contest the penultimate round. Although Sven Hadley was unbeatable heading into the final weekend with a 29 point advantage, the runner-up spot prize of €700 was still very much up for grabs. Lying in third place on the leaderboard heading into the round at Coilog, Shannon MacKenzie jumped up to second place when she led the victory lap at the Kildare venue.

Riding Bens Lady Lux the Co Antrim rider lodged the winning round when she proved fastest in the 19 way jump-off when clear in 33.50 seconds. Just over a second behind and slotting into the runner-up place was Gerard Clarke Jnr riding Ardragh Stein when clear in 34.42.

Floody in flying form

Also in contention to take one of the top three league prizes, John Floody certainly made his presence felt as he dominated the remainder of the line-up. He delivered his best result aboard Eileen Duggan’s Bronson De Reve when he kept everything intact in 34.60 seconds. Not content with this, Floody also took fourth place with Francis Hughes’ Ballyknock Diamond when he partnered the gelding to a clear in 35.15. He then completed the hat-trick when slotting into fifth place with Brian Kiernan HTS Blackrock, clear in 35.83.

Francis Connors’ steady clear with Uskerty Diamond Lad in 36.41 ensured him of sixth place. Competing in his first leg of the tour for 2017, Darryl Walker’s careful approach paid dividends as he delivered a clear with Ballycapple Diamond Cruise in 37.55 for seventh place. Gemma Phelan completed the line-up when she crossed the line with nothing to add aboard Quality Villane in 37.84 for eighth place.Taking the leading young rider prize of the round was Thomas Foley, while the leading pro am was David Costello.

Warrington round

On Sunday, the final round at Warrington in Kilkenny proved to be a competitive class with a start-list of 47 combinations. On duty, local course designer Pat Drennan built a fitting course for the conclusion of the tour, with 19 combinations proceeding to the timed round.

First to go against the clock, local rider Ger O’Neill set the bar high when he delivered the first double clear aboard Cavalino 26 in 40.16, which would later prove good enough for eighth place. Moving up in the draw and just two horses later, Shannon Mackenzie lowered that target when she crossed the line clear in 38.64 with Castle Tara Lady Lux. Despite a good start, Mackenzie’s lead was short lived as Ger O’ Neill improved on his earlier performance and lodged a clear round with Eamonn Murphy’s nine-year-old stallion Dondoctro Ryal K in 37.65 seconds which temporarily saw him take the lead and later fourth place.

Gemma Phelan’s clear with Loughnavatta Indigo failed to change the lead, but a clear in 39.41 would later prove good enough for seventh place. The lead changed hands shortly after when Ethen Ahearne’s daring gallop to the last with Riverside Ace paid off when he clocked 36.17. Alexander Butler didn’t put a foot wrong with Eldorado and a clear in 38.09 would later see him feature in the line-up, slotting into fifth place just ahead of Shannon Mackenzie (Castle Tara Lady Lux). All eyes were on local rider Vincent Byrne as he took to the course with Mr Rockefeller.

Setting off at a determined pace, Byrne took a series of tight turns and, cheered on by the crowd, he stopped the clock in 37.28 which would see him slot into eventual third.

Using his late draw to the best of his advantage, Nicholas Butler meant business as he took to the course with the speed merchant Vimminka. With a win in mind, Butler first took the tight line from fence 14 to 15, this matched with a tight turn to the double saw him on target. A final gallop to the last saw him clock the winning time of 35.51 seconds and in the process demote Ahearne into second place. Local rider Jack Ryan proved out of luck when he faulted at fence eight but he did not go home empty handed as he took the leading young rider prize of the round. A clear from Jamie Garland and Zedlepplin in 41.22 saw her take the leading pro am prize of the round.

On Saturday, show jumping action turns to the first round of the New Heights Champion Series, which takes place at the Horseware Louth County Show. As well as the feature Grand Prix, the show will play host to the opening rounds of the Mervue Equine Leinster 1.20m and 1.30m league, which boast a prize fund of €1,500 for the 1.35m and €500 for the 1.20m tour.

This year, the New Heights Champion Series, which replaces the Premier Series, is sponsored by TRM and Horseware and boasts a prize fund of €10,000 in each of the 10 rounds and as before, the course will stand at 1.50m.