Floody lodges local win at Broadmeadows

John Floody put his first points on the board in the Connolly Red Mills Spring Tour at Broadmeadows in Ashbourne, Co Meath last Sunday. Floody took the win aboard HTS Blackrock when clear in a time of 36.39 seconds.

Only a short spin away from his yard in Slane, Floody is no stranger to the winners enclosure here having won the Spring Tour the year before with Bronson de Reve and finishing runner-up in 2015 with Mise Le Meas.

HTS Blackrock, an 11-year-old stallion by Rhyne Clover out of the Diamond Chin-mare Marilyn D Chin, was bred by his owner Brian Kiernan of Heynestown Stud in Dundalk. HTS Blackrock has three offspring registered, two of which were bred by Kiernan, HTS Black Willow and HTS Redrock.

Peter Barnwall also has one foal on the ground out of the stallion which is out of Nethercross Tally. Last year this combination ended the season on a good note when claiming the win in the Allianz Grand Prix in Wexford Equestrian and they were second in the Allianz Grand Prix at the Portmore Winter Championships.

Carberry close

In total 35 took on the Tom Holden-designed course and from those 16 proceeded to the jump-off.

Paul Carberry also put his first points on the board when he partnered his own Brandonview First Edition (ISH) to a clear in the slightly slower time of 36.59.

Bred by Seamus Drea from Kilkenny, the eight-year-old gelding is by Douglas Cavalier out of the Balda Beau-sired mare Brandonview Lady.

Placed third at Cavan last weekend with Sumas Taloubet, reigning Spring Tour champion Sven Hadley is keeping himself on the top end of the leaderboard as he took another third place in this round.

Riding his own Quanbelle he galloped home with nothing to add in 37.36. Not content with third, Hadley also slotted into fourth place with Sumas Taloubet when he was just 0.07 seconds off his own target, stopping the clock at 37.43.

Leading young rider

Having placed third in the first round at Jag Equestrian, Stephen Murphy is also now lying in a prominent place on leaderboard after adding another three points to his tally. Riding Chantelle he delivered a clear in 39.31 seconds for eventual fifth place.

This result meant that Murphy claimed the leading young rider prize for a second time.

Gerard Clarke completed the top six line-up when he delivered a clear with Lupins Lux Z in a time of 39.36.The Leading Pro-Am prize which is sponsored by Foran’s Equine was picked up by Jamie Garland.

Sven Hadley may have had to settle for third in the Spring Tour but he took no prisoners in the earlier 1.20m class when claiming the first three slots. The Galway rider took the win aboard Victoria Z, second with Ganorad and third with Why Not Fado.

Pony spring tour

Pony riders were also in action last Sunday as they travelled to Ard Chuain in County Sligo to contest the first round of the Plusvital and Holmestead Saddlery Pony Spring tour. Taking the win in the 128cm division was Daisy McNamara riding Lambay Off Broadway.

Owned by Martha McNamara, the seven-year- old Welsh mare was bred by Ann Grimes and is by Lennards Monogram out of Linksbury Cinderella. After only a short career, the mare has over 650 SJI points clocked up.

In the 138cm division the win belonged to Alex Finney riding Joe McMahon’s 11-year-old gelding Western Oreo. This gelding which has no breeding recorded has almost 900 hundred show jumping points.

Victory in the 148cm went to Orla Duffy and Tirconaill Bluebell. Bred by Enda Craig and owned by Anita Duffy, Tirconaill Bluebell is a 14-year-old mare by the Connemara stallion Templebready Fear Bui out of the Chamber-sired mare Tirconaill Breeze. Tirconaill Breeze a horse (168cm) finished her career under the command of Blayne Sheehan in 2010 jumping up to 1.20m level.

Top three

It was a one, two, three for Sven Hadley in the 1.20m class. He took the win aboard Victoria Z, second with Ganorad and third with Why Not Fado.

Pony breeding

Tirconaill Bluebell, the 148cm winner, is out of Tirconaill Breeze a horse measuring 168cm.