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Jonathan Smyth and Crystal Tom cemented their place on top of the Underwriting Exchange Grand Prix leader board last Sunday (23 August) when taking the top spot in the Meadows Equestrian Centre in Lurgan.
The duo was fastest of 11 double clears in a time of 35.46 seconds.
This win now places the combination in poll position on a total of 38 points. They have proved very consistent in the series, claiming the runner-up place in Barnadown and a win at both Cavan and Mullingar. Owned by Ann Doherty, and bred by the late Anthony Doherty, Crystal Tom is a 10-year-old gelding by Silvano and out of the Graf Magna sired dam, Lady Graf.
Clem McMahon was just over a second behind with the Hilton Farm-owned Hilton Banner in 36.58 for second place. This eight-year-old has been produced by McMahon and has just moved up to grand prix level this year.
Current National Grand Prix Champion Liam O’Meara is keeping himself in contention as he took third place with Helen Sheridan’s Curraghgraigue Jack Take Flight, when clear in 37.86.
Winner of the round in Killossery, Mark Finnerty also added to his points score, when he took fourth place in the line-up. Riding All Action, he crossed the line with nothing to add in 38.66 seconds.
Taking fifth place was Peter Smyth and Roscrib de Ross, when they took the longer lines and crossed the line in 39.50 seconds.
Winner of the round in Balmoral last weekend, Kildare’s Derek McConnell and Dothraki also moved up the standings when they took sixth place, when clear in 40.23 seconds. The result means that McConnell added an extra four points to his tally.
It was announced on Friday that the annual Tattersalls International Horse Trials has been discontinued due to ongoing financial challenges.
First established by the late George Mernagh in 2006, the annual event had become a popular feature in the international horse trials calendar. The event, which also included a country fair attracted up to 15,000 spectators at the Co Meath venue.
A statement from the organisers said despite the efforts of the organising committee and the generous support of the ‘George Mernagh Memorial Fund’ which was set up in 2012 following the death of George Mernagh, the commercial realities of staging such an event have proved insurmountable and the trustees of the ‘George Mernagh Memorial Fund’ have concluded that the trust can best achieve its long term objectives of promoting youth participation in Irish equestrian sports by supporting a broader range of equestrian disciplines.
Tattersalls will continue to host equestrian sports at the Tattersalls Ireland site in Fairyhouse. Several national events, as well as the successful July Horse Show, are already held at the venue.
Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) are seeking applications from venues to hold eight individual midweek or weekend professional horse production events this coming autumn, to further support breeders, producers and those employed in the sport horse industry in Ireland this year.
The concept of the “Horse Sport Ireland Development Series” is to assist breeders and producers to continue to produce young horses from four-year-olds to international level during the forthcoming autumn period and in the process extend the current season which has been severely curtailed by COVID-19.
HSI will provide all prize money for the competitions/events which can be in show jumping, dressage or eventing. All competitions will run subject to the latest Government COVID-19 regulations and recommendations.
Application forms can be found on the HSI website and applications will close 27 August at 12pm
It was announced last Friday that Tattersalls Ireland and Goffs have both moved their yearling sales to the UK, following ongoing difficulties faced due to COVID-19.
The Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale will be the first to move, taking place in Newmarket from 21-23 September.
The Goffs Sportsman’s Sale will take place at the Goffs UK complex immediately after this on 24-25 September.
A week later, the Goffs Orby Sale will take place on 1-2 October.
This change will allow for international buyers to attend both British and Irish sales while complying with Government advice regarding COVID-19. It also means almost 1,500 yearlings will need to make the trip across the Irish Sea to attend these sales instead of travelling to the Co Meath and Kildare venues.
Commenting on the change of location for the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, Tattersalls Ireland CEO Matt Mitchell said;
“The decision to relocate the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale to the Tattersalls headquarters in Newmarket has not been an easy one, but the sale traditionally attracts large numbers of overseas visitors and at present Britain, while also being the source of many of our buyers, is significantly more accessible than Ireland.
Commenting on the change of dates and location for the Goffs sales, Goffs Group Chief Executive, Henry Beeby said:
“Naturally our first preference would have been to hold what is the Irish National Yearling Sale in Kildare Paddocks but, given the current issues caused by COVID-19, we judge that is not in the best interests of our vendors who have supported us with a stellar selection of wonderful yearlings. Our job is to attract the widest and most diverse group of buyers to our sales and we feel that can best be achieved in 2020 by moving our yearling sales to our UK site as a one-off to deal with the uniquely challenging problems caused by COVID-19.”
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