Just a week after winning the fourth round of the HSI/Connolly’s RED MILLS Spring Tour at Wexford, Tipperary’s Liam O Meara and Mr Coolcaum once again took the winner’s prize in the seventh round of the series, at Claremorris Equestrian Centre in Co Mayo.
Just five of the twenty one starters made it into the jump off and Nenagh based O Meara took full advantage of his draw as last to go, stopping the clock clear in 34.80 seconds with Mr Coolcaum (Coolcaum Hill x Indian Ruler), to grab the lion’s share of the €2,500 on offer from sponsors Claremorris Auctions.
Speaking afterwards he said, “It was a tough enough course in the first round and the jump off too was pretty long with plenty of room between each of the fences. The ground at Claremorris was very good and it certainly helped that I was last to go in the jump off, I knew exactly what I had to do, unlike last week at Wexford where I had to jump early in the class”.
However when asked about his plans for the remainder of the Spring Tour Liam O Meara was reluctant to suggest he will challenge for the overall league title, “I will jump Mr Coolcaum in the round at Balinamona but that will probably be the last round of the Spring Tour for him. It is a long season and I don’t want to end up with too much done early in the year with him”.
Two riders very much hoping to challenge for the league title, Thomas O Brien and Daniel Coyle, travelled to Claremorris hoping to close the gap on league leader Conor McEneaney who extended his lead with a runner up finish the previous day at Portmore.
At the finish, the pair filled four of the top ten places in Claremorris, with Thomas O Brien finishing runner up with Minnie Clover (Clover Brigade x Householder). The Co Galway riders time (35.77) was just under a second slower than the winner and he had well over three seconds in hand over Daniel Coyle who also collected valuable league points for a third placed finish with Touch of Porsch. The eight year old daughter of Porsch who is out of a Touchdown mare was one of only three double clear rounds at the Mayo venue.
Jumping on home soil, junior rider Cormac Hanley was once again in excellent form, posting the second fastest time of the day (35.32) with the Dutch bred gelding Valour (Pierrot x Le Mexico), an unlucky four faults saw them finish in fourth place, comfortably giving Cormac the title of Leading Young Rider at Claremorris.
Thomas O Brien and Amaretto (Numero Uno x IIutte) slotted into fifth place (48.42) after they also knocked just a single fence in the jump off, while Liam O Meara completed the top six with Glenaguile Flight (Errigal Flight x Ballinvella) after they were the fastest of the four faulters from round one.
The HSI/Connolly's RED MILLS Spring Tour moves to Balinamona just outside Waterford City on St Patrick’s Day, where the largest field of the weekend (forty-four), go to post in round eight of the series at 3pm.
The Spring Tour leader board continues to build excitement, with Conor McEneaney still on top with 37 points, although Daniel Coyle has closed the gap considerably following his third place finish at Claremorris and now lies just three points behind on 34, with Thomas O Brien lurking just two points further back on 32.
The Horse Sport Ireland/Connollys RED MILLS Spring Tour, is also supported by the Show Jumpers Club, ShowjumpingIreland, Castlefield Sport Horses, Thermatex, Platinum by Harry Dabbs, Darragh Equestrian Solutions, and Jumpinaction.net.
HSI/ Connolly's RED MILLS Spring Tour - Top Six Following Claremorris
Conor Mc Eneaney 37 Points
Daniel Coyle 34
Thomas O'Brien 32
Liam O'Meara 25
James Hogg 20
Sven Hadley 14
Full Result. HSI/Connolly's RED MILLS Spring Tour Claremorris EC Sponsored by Claremorris Auctions.
1st Liam O’Meara/Mr. Coolcaum 0/0 34.80
2nd Thomas O Brien/Minnie Clover 0/0 35.77
3rd Daniel Coyle/Touch of Porsch 0/0 39.32
4th Cormac Hanley/Valour 0/4 35.32
5th Thomas O’Brien Amaretto 0/4 48.42
6th Liam O’Meara/Glenaguile Flight 4 faults first round 72.41.
7th Cormac Hanley/Lux Nice 4/ 72.83
8th Noelle Barry/Norway Venture 4/ 73.87
9th Daniel Coyle/Isobelle Argentina 4/ 75.47
10th Olive Clarke/Kofi Annan 4/ 77.75
21 starters. 5 into jump off
Winning owner - Liam O Meara
Top young rider - Cormac Hanley
Best turned out - Captain Royale/Luke Gibbons
Top 7/8 year old - Touch of Porsch