Road To Dublin Horse Show Begins

Wednesday, May 20, 2015 | Mary Phelps

Cian O Connor and Aramis 573, winners of the 2014 Connolly’s RED MILLS 7 & 8-year-old International final at the RDS, photo jumpingnews.com

Cian O Connor and Aramis 573, winners of the 2014 Connolly’s RED MILLS 7 & 8-year-old International final at the RDS, photo jumpingnews.com

The battle to grab a coveted place at the 2015 Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show has begun, with the first qualifier for the Connolly’s RED MILLS 7 & 8-year-old final at the RDS, taking place at Galway Equestrian Centre today (Wednesday).Last year’s Connolly’s RED MILLS 7 & 8-year-old international final at the RDS, saw Ireland’s Olympic Bronze Medallist Cian O Connor riding Aramis 573 crowned champions, following three thrilling competitions at the famous Dublin Horse Show in Ballsbridge..A world class line-up included former World Cup champion Daniel Duesser from Germany, Swedish super-star Malin Baryard Johnsson and current world number one Scott Brash from Great Britain, who joined a list of Ireland’s top riders with their 7 & 8 year old horses.Galway is the first of four opportunities for riders to book a place in the Connolly’s RED MILLS final at Dublin Horse Show and a massive start-list of 86 horses and riders have entered including many of Ireland’s top stars. Competition is set to be fierce with only five places on offer at each of the four qualifiers, with Coilog (Kildare), Barnadown (Wexford) and the Meadows (Armagh), hosting the three remaining qualifiers following Galway.The top 20 qualifiers from the four Irish venues, will joined at the Dublin Horse Show by up to twenty-four additional International entries from around the world, for the 2015 Connolly’s RED MILLS 7 & 8-year-old international final.