There was a fairytale ending to the HSBC FEI World Cup™ Eventing at Tattersalls (IRL) when husband-and-wife team Patricia and Michael Ryan finished first and second, thrilling the large and patriotic crowd and keeping victory at Ireland’s showpiece event at home for the second year.
The final Jumping phase lived up to its billing as being one of the biggest and most exciting tracks and, as the leading British riders cracked under the pressure of a closely-packed leaderboard, the Ryans began their meteoric rises, Patricia from 4th to 1st and Michael from 7th to 2nd.
Mary King (GBR), emphatically back in action after a spring season decimated by a virus, shot into second place in the HSBC FEI World Cup™ Eventing standings, her three horses Imperial Cavalier, Fernhill Urco and her home-bred Kings Temptress finishing 3rd, 6th and 11th.
Oliver Townend (GBR), the HSBC FEI Classics™ leader, looked set to add Tattersalls to his Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials victory three weeks previously, but his ride, the 12-year-old Jackson d’Allez was coming back after a year off, and having given his all the previous day to lead the Cross-Country, hit a disastrous 8 fences and dropped to 24th.
Dressage leader
Polly Stockton (GBR), riding the 10-year-old Irish-owned and bred Westwood Poser, by Master Imp, led the Dressage on 42.7 from Mary King (GBR) on two out of three of her rides, the handsome Irish-bred Imperial Cavalier (44.0) and new ride Fernhill Urco (45.2) on only their second competition together.
Ciaran Glynn (IRL) was best of the home side in 8th on the home-bred Killossery Kruisita (49.0). Last year’s winner, Capt Geoff Curran (IRL) withdrew Kilkishen after a disappointing test (55.4, equal 25th) but lay 9th on The Jump Jet (49.4). Patricia and Michael Ryan lay equal 14th and equal 25th respectively at this stage.
Camilla Speirs (IRL) won the Ian Olding Memorial Trophy for the Irish rider making the highest rise after dressage, from 35th to 9th, on Portersize Just A Jiff.
Cross-Country
Hugh Lochore (GBR), the US-based Course-Designer, had set an enticing test, which he described as a “balance of technical and attacking”, reminiscent of Ireland’s hunting tradition and with big bold fences set naturally in the hedge lines. Indeed, the Irish riders rose to the fore, with 5 of them in the top 10 after Cross-Country. Mary King commented: “I thought it was refreshingly old-fashioned with natural fences – it felt like proper cross-country.”
The country had suffered a lot of rain, but after considerable work and commitment on the part of organiser George Mernagh (IRL) and his team, although the course had some soft patches, the going was excellent and horses were finishing well. The track was little changed overall from last year, but Lochore said that he had “beefed up” some of the combinations and riders considered it an appropriately demanding test.
It was not only the veteran campaigners, like the Ryan horses who went well, but 3-star newcomers like William Fox-Pitt’s Sonate V and Pippa Funnell’s Mirage d’Elle. Patricia Ryan said: “It was very quick; the time was difficult and you just had to keep thinking and concentrating all the way round.”
First on course, Oliver Townend and Golden Hue, 7th after Dressage, were submerged in the water complex at 21 when the horse missed its footing on landing in the lower part of the split-level obstacle. Katie O’Sullivan (IRL) and Snannondale Que also fell here.
Many riders made this beautifully presented centrepiece complex look easy, most notably Piggy French (GBR) on What A Performance. Halfway through the competition, following the fall of Catherston Defender, ridden by Alberto Guigni (ITA), the Technical Delegate Neil Clinton (AUS) and the Ground Jury decided, through rider consultation, to remove the fence from the competition.
The timing was adjusted accordingly and all riders who had already jumped the fence had 4sec (1.6 penalties) taken off their times.
The track at Tattersalls, site of the premier bloodstock auction house in County Meath, is predominantly flat, but it contains a spectacular man-made HSBC bank complex at 11 & 12 which involved a bounce up to an undulating ridge over a log and followed by an “into-space” drop. Although it proved a popular spectator attraction, the obstacle rode well and only caused one fault, for Polly Stockton on first ride Westwood Joker, whom she subsequently retired.
The most influential fence turned out to be a pair of brush corners at 8ab which claimed two notable scalps in luckless World Champion Zara Phillips on Secret Legacy and Mark Todd (NZL), riding in his first major competition this year, on his Olympic horse Gandalf. Both riders retired, Todd having already withdrawn Land Vision after Dressage.
Jumping test
Tattersalls’ Jumping course has a reputation for being a serious track, and the Ryans were the only riders in the top 10 to jump clear, an achievement they attributed to trainer Michael Quirk (IRL), who is working with team manager Ginny Elliot (GBR) and Horse Sport Ireland. “A year ago I would have felt quite nervous about a course like this,” said Patricia Ryan, “but this time I felt quite cool and confident, knowing that it was really within my capability.”
Old campaigners
Patricia Ryan (née Donegan) first sprang to prominence with a horse called Don’t Step Back, with whom she represented Ireland at the Sydney Olympics. She rode Tom and Carol Henry’s 13-year-old Fernhill Clover Mist, an Irish Sport Horse by Kiltealy Spring, on the Olympic team in Hong Kong last year and is a candidate for the Irish team at this year’s HSBC FEI European Eventing Championship in Fontainebleau (FRA) in September. She has been riding this horse for 7 years.
Michael Ryan’s Old Road, by Puissance, a stalwart of the Irish team, is now 16 and has been dropped down a level to 3-star to “have some fun”. He may well now be making the trip to Poland for the HSBC FEI World Cup™ Eventing Final.
Quotes
Patricia Ryan: “I tried not to listen to what was going on in the Jumping and to keep cool. I knew that if I kept calm and in a rhythm it would be all right, but I still can’t believe it. It hasn’t sunk in. This is this horse’s biggest success. He isn’t the easiest to ride because he can be spooky, but today he was great.”
Michael Ryan: “Patricia and I have been tit for tat with coming first and second in national competitions over the first week, so I really don’t mind who wins as long as we keep it in the family! This is definitely Old Road’s best ever result and as it’s probably the hottest 3-star competition in Europe this year, I’m thrilled.”
Mary King: “It’s just so great to be back in action. Imperial Cavalier was thrilled to be galloping again and he felt lovely. I’m also very excited about my new horse, Fernhill Urco. He was quite strong but I think that when our partnership has had time to gell, it could be quite exciting for the future.”
Competition statistics
– 56 starters
– 7 nations represented: Ireland, Australia, Great Britain, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden
– 1st prize was €11,000
– Ground jury was Martin Plewa (President, GER), Jane Tolley (GBR), Vanda Robinson (IRL)
– 8 riders scored in the 40s in Dressage
– Highest mark 42.7; lowest mark 75
– 3 withdrawals before Cross-Country
– 39 riders completed the Cross-Country
– 33 clear rounds
– No one achieved the optimum time of 6min 30sec
– Only 6 riders had under 10 time penalties – Paul Donovan on Sportsfield Sandyman was fastest with 2.8 and went up 30 places after Dressage, eventually finishing 27th
– There were faults at 8 out of the 24 fences
– Fence 8ab proved the most influential with 7 riders faulting there
– 7 riders eliminated Cross-Country (4 horse falls, 2 rider falls, 1 x 3 refusals)
– 7 retirements Cross-Country
– 39 horses completed the competition
– 5 clear Jumping rounds (2 with time penalties)
Results
1 Patricia Ryan (Fernhill Clover Mist, IRL) 50.8 + 6.8 + 0 = 57.6
2 Michael Ryan (Old Road, IRL) 55.4 + 3.6 + 0 = 59
3 Mary King (Imperial Cavalier, GBR) 44 + 12.4 + 4 = 60.4
4 Polly Stockton (Westwood Poser, GBR) 42.7 + 10.8 + 4/4 = 61.5
5 Piggy French (What A Performance, GBR) 47.4 + 10.4 + 8 = 66.3
6 Mary King (Fernhill Urco, GBR) 45.2 + 17.6 + 4 = 66.8
7 Pippa Funnell (Blue Horizon, GBR) 47.9 + 10.4 + 4/5 = 67.3
8 Declan Cullen (Glenhill gold, IRL) 50 + 10 + 8 = 68
9 Camilla Speirs (Portersize Just A Jiff, IRL) 59.2 + 8.4 + 4 = 72.7
10 Matthew Wright (Cermont, GBR) 51.5 + 17.2 + 4 = 72.7
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