Irish breeding holds all the trump cards after two days of dressage at the European young rider three-day event championships in Co Fermanagh's Necarne Castle. All three sections, including the championships, are led by Irish exports going into today's cross-country, but unfortunately the Irish connection ends there in all but the junior class.
Germany took team and individual gold at last week's junior championships and looks set to repeat the process in the young rider equivalent at Necarne. Ulrich Bormann has established a three-point lead with the Carnival Night gelding Westwood Legal Star.
Bormann was on the German team that took silver at the young rider championships in Italy two years ago. He was offered the ride on Westwood Legal Star in April by the horse's Sligo-based owner Ernst Pawlowski and went on to finish sixth in the German Masters in July.
Closest to him are Britain's Nicky Roncoroni, individual bronze medallist at last year's championships in Belgium, and Bormann's team-mate Insa-Christina Weddige. Roncoroni is also riding an Irish horse, the Touchdown gelding Malachy Stone.
Sherelle Duke is fourth and best of the Irish with Up To Scratch, whose dressage mark yesterday morning moved the home side up from Thursday's bottom of the table to fourth.
The British, who slumped to finish 11th of 11 teams at the junior championships last weekend while Ireland's Philippa Peters took individual silver and led the team to bronze, are lying second overnight by the slimmest of margins from the French.
Irish bloodlines also feature at the top of the senior two-star class, which runs over the same cross-country track as the championships today. Britain's Milla Clayton-Bailey has a one-point advantage with the Rakish Paddy gelding Zaizoo.
British-based Swiss Christian Landolt, is in second and fifth, with Polly Clark's two rides sandwiched in between. Clark had led the field on Thursday with her 1998 Windsor winner The Tonka Toy, but then bettered herself with Well Related to slot into third and fourth.
Jane O'Flynn, who runs as an Irish individual at the senior European championships in Germany next week with Jinnie Webb's Kilnadeema Star, is best of the home side in seventh on her mother's Gormley.
Elaine Ham heads the juniors with the Rozel Buoy gelding One More Time, hotly pursued by Blarney winners Gerald Bloomer and Archie Brown, who are a single penalty adrift.
Two Irish winners are show jumpers Jessica Kurten and Edward Doyle, both of whom scooped a good share of the giant prize fund on offer at the Canadian Nations Cup meeting in Calgary. Kurten took the opening day's class with her Hickstead Queen's Cup winner Paavo, while Doyle scored with the Cor d'Alme Z.
European Young Riders Championships (team placings after dressage) - 1, Germany, 246 penalties; 2, Britain, 277; 3, France, 279; 4, Ireland, 294; 5, Sweden, 302; 6, Italy, 310.
Individual - 1, Germany's Westwood Legal Star (Ulrich Bormann), 79 penalties; equal 2, Britain's Malachy Stone (Nicky Roncoroni) and Germany's Aram (Insa-Christina Weddige), 82; 4, Ireland's Up To Scratch (Sherelle Duke), 84; equal 5, Switzerland's Shalom Powerman (Geraldine Karrer) and Germany's The Odyssey (Stephanie Leister-Mayer), 85.
Two-star - 1, Britain's Zaizoo (Milla Clayton-Bailey), 69 penalties; 2, Switzerland's Allegra (Christian Landolt), 70; 3, Britain's Well Related (Polly Clark), 72; 4, Britain's The Tonka Toy (Polly Clark), 78; 5, Switzerland's Joint Enterprise (Christian Landolt), 80; 6, Britain's Newsbeat (Tiny Clapham), 82; 7, Ireland's Gormley (Jane O'Flynn), 83.
Junior - 1, Ireland's One More Time (Elaine Ham), 81 penalties; 2, Ireland's Archie Brown (Gerald Bloomer), 82; 3, Britain's American Gigolo (Amelia Harris), 94; 4, Ireland's Hawkesbury River (Colin Halliday), 96; 5, Ireland's Sportsfield Pick 'n' Mix (Kate Keenan), 97; 6, Ireland's Glenloughan Lady (Suzanne Jordan), 98.
