“HE’S usually put to the bottom of the list because I own him, but this is a great result!” commented a delighted Tom McEwen after his win on GHS Diamanta (ISH) in the CCI2*-L at Ballindenisk International.

“I own ‘Bentley’ and he’s had a quieter summer than I would’ve liked, but I’m really pleased with him this week. I haven’t been to Ballindenisk in about 15 years and the improvements are great, the surfaced arena is a great addition and the ground here has been fantastic all week,” added the British Olympic gold medallist. The Diarado gelding, bred by GHS, has had a quiet season but has still managed to notch up four top-six placings this year, including a win last time out at Pontispool at Novice level.

It’s been an incredible year for Anna Radford and her pony Essenar Double Dutch (ISH), and finishing second in the CCI2*L class could be the icing on the cake. The Wexford-based rider piloted her mother’s 15-year-old gelding to finish on their dressage score of 27.5 penalties, less than a fence behind the winner. This follows on from their Individual and team silver medals at the European Championships for Ponies in Le Mans this summer and their win in Millstreet International in May.

Nicky Roncoroni and Carrigshawn Ebony (ISH) also put in an impressive performance to finish in third place. The six-year-old gelding followed up his third-place finish at the same venue 12 months ago in the Michael Leonard Championship. Finishing on their dressage score, the HHS Cornet (ISH) gelding has had three wins this season, including the CCI1* Intro Class at Millstreet International earlier in the year. British competitors filled the next two slots, with John Tilley and Borris Cornet Coole (ISH) taking fourth place and Izzy Taylor and Ninian Park finishing their week on a score of 31.5 penalties for fifth. Amanda Goldsbury and Alltogether Cooley (ISH) completed the top six with 4.4 penalties added in the show jumping to their impressive dressage score of 28.2 penalties.