O’Meara wins Round 4 of HSI/Red Mills Spring Tour

IPPERARY’S Liam O’Meara landed the fourth round of the Horse Sport Ireland/Connolly’s RED MILLS Spring Tour at Wexford Equestrian Centre, after a brilliant performance with his own gelding Mr Coolcaum today (Saturday).

Despite the disadvantage of an early draw in the 11 horse jump-off, O’Meara had almost a second and a half to spare over his nearest challenger at the finish, giving him the lion’s share of the €2,500 on offer from sponsors Shires Equestrian Products.

Afterwards a delighted O’Meara spoke about his jump off round and was full of praise for his winning mount,

“I just kept up a good a rhythm and went a bit tighter around the course than everyone else, Mr Coolcaum (Coolcaum Hill x Indian Ruler) has a bit more experience than most of the others in the class and the way my horse jumped today it would really have been my fault if he didn’t win.

“He is an unbelievable horse and it is hard to believe he is still just a ten year old. People think he is older because he has been around a long time, but he is the soundest horse you could have and I just hope he stays that way. He won his first Munster Grand Prix as a six year old and he has won Premier Series and National Grands Prix already. I probably should sell him this year but I am just not going to”.

O’Meara went on to say, “I would really like to thank today’s sponsors Shires and also of course Horse Sport Ireland and Connolly’s RED MILLS. I use all their feed with the 30 horses we have in our yard, it really is a great product. The Spring Tour is a very important series particularly for getting ready for the bigger classes later in the year”.

In the opening round, the dog-leg from fence 12 to 13 caused a few problems, nonetheless course designer Damien Beevor saw 11 of the 30 starters make it into the jump-off.

Patrick Byrne and BGS Courage (Courage II X Power Blade) were first to go against the clock and they posted a steady clear in 46.58 seconds, which would eventually see them finish in fifth.

Liam O’Meara was next in with Mr Coolcaum and they were super smooth with tight turns and not a single pull, posting the winning time of 39.83.

Galway’s Tomas O’Brien was next to go with Ameretto (Numero Uno x IIutte) and a steady clear in 48.22 seconds left them in sixth place at the finish. Killian Browne was next to enter the impressive Wexford Equestrian arena with the very promising eight year old gelding Georgie D’ Auvray (Vancover D’Auvray x Nabab de Reve), a time of 44.89 seconds leaving them in fourth.

Vincent Byrne came closest of all to the winner’s time, producing an excellent clear round with Mr Rockefeller (Ard VDL Douglas x Kings Servant) to take runner up spot (41.42), while Sven Hadley took third place with Quanbell (Quentin x H2), just under a second slower (42.40) than Vincent Byrne.

All of the top seven posted double clear rounds including Emma O Dwyer, who took the leading young rider prize, having finished in seventh place with HHS Dublin ((Ard VDL Douglas x Cavalier Royale).

The HSI/ Connolly’s RED MILLS Spring Tour moves to Killossery Lodge Stud on Sunday, with K&K Produce sponsoring the fifth round of the series.

The Horse Sport Ireland/Connollys RED MILLS Spring Tour is also supported by the Show Jumpers Club, ShowjumpingIreland, Castlefield Sport Horses, Thermatex, Platinum by Harry Dabbs, Darragh Equestrian Solutions, and Jumpinaction.net.

RESULT – HSI/ Connolly’s RED MILLS Spring Tour – Wexford Equestrian  – Sponsored by Shires Equestrian  – 08/03/2014

1st Liam O’Meara/Mr Coolcaum 0/0 39.83,
2nd Vincent Byrne/Mr Rockefeller 0/0 41.42
3rd Sven Hadley/Quanbell 0/0 42.40
4th Killian Browne/Georgie D’ Auvray EC 0/0 44.89
5th Patrick Byrnes/BGS Courage 0/0 46.58
6th Thomas O’Brien/Amaretto 0/0 48.22
7th Emma O’Dwyer/HHS Dublin 0/0 51.26
8th Jonathan Andrews/The Hurricane 0/4 43.31
9th Colette Harte/Black Hand 0/4 49.54
10th Emma O’Dwyer/HHS Flo 0/8 42.62

30 starters
11 into jump -off

Best Turned Out – Enigma  – Max O Reilly Hyland
Leading Young Rider – Emma O Dwyer

Liam O Meara and Mr Coolcaum, winners of the HSI/Connolly’s RED MILLS Spring Tour at Wexford Equestrian. Also pictured, from left, Sabrina Barnwell (Connolly’s Red Mills), Sophie D’Alton (HSI) and Orla Roche (Wexford Equestrian Centre). Photo – Sonya Dempsey.