Thompson bounces back to her best

Lucy Thompson, whose dreams of extending her reign as open European champion were shattered so abruptly on the Burghley cross-country last Saturday, was back to her best at Necarne Castle yesterday and leads the field after the first day of dressage at the Balcas international three-day event in Co Fermanagh.

Thompson's partner for yesterday's test was Gold Dust III, Mrs Asprey's eight-year-old gelding that provided the horsepower for the Kent rider's victory at Punchestown in May. The pair led throughout at the Co Kildare fixture, just as Thompson had done when she claimed her open European title in Italy two years ago with Welton Romance.

As the only rider to break through the 40-point barrier for a mark of 39.8, Thompson has a fairly comfortable bit of breathing space between herself and second-placed Leslie Law, who scored 42.4 with Matt Butler, which owner Tim Fitzroy found down in Cork three years ago. The eight-year-old was 10th at Blarney in June and his Gloucestershire-based rider will be aiming for an even better result here.

The British visitors have actually taken a strong hold of the top placings in the Balcas two-star, with seven in the top nine, although third-placed Fiona Stuart, who declares herself a true Scot and a true veteran of the over 50s variety, may have retired by the time the St Andrews saltire becomes her national flag.

Other than Thompson, the only other Irish rider to break through the British ranks is Co Antrim's Rachelle Harding, who went so close to winning the one-star at Necarne 12 months ago with Glencool, only to drop to second in the final show jumping test. Now upgraded to twostar, Glencool performed his usual consistent test and, despite some stiffness in the shoulder-in and pirouettes, slotted into fifth.

The entire two-star field, bar one, performed their tests yesterday. The same judges will be in action for today's Mahon's Hotel junior class and have agreed to see the sole absentee, Mark Kyle, put Bright Spark through his paces once he has made the journey up from Dublin, where he works as a PE instructor at St Andrew's College in Blackrock.

Joanne Jarden, who rode her own mare Belle Canna into 10th in the two-star yesterday, also holds the advantage over the one-star runners after producing a very consistent test from William McCluskey's Kilimanjaro. The massive six-year-old, which stands an imposing 18 hands, has particularly eye-catching paces, which served him well last season when he had a succession of victories in young event horse classes.

Closest to the leaders are Jane Tiffin and Class Touch, whose work in the arena did not meet with universal approval as ground jury president Jo Young from Canada had the pair in ninth. When the marks were averaged out, however, Tiffin was just a single point adrift in second with visiting Spaniard Marta Botin in third on the attractive chestnut Egipto.