Liam O'Meara was the latest rider to add his name to the roster of those who have won a round of the TRM/Horseware Premier Series when taking his first win in the prestigious League this afternoon with Mr Coolcaum in the penultimate round at the South County Show.
The Tipperary based rider was triumphant in today's €12,000 Premier Series Grand Prix sponsored by Bagnall and Associates at the Show that traditionally leads up to the Dublin Horse Show.
O'Meara was one of seven combinations that made it through to the second round over Alan Wade's course. Wade will next week form an integral part of the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show as the Course Designer for the International competitions at the Show including the Aga Khan and the Grand Prix.
Just two horses and riders completed both rounds clear with the eventual winner stopping the clock in a time of 58.43.
Sven Hadley was the only rider to keep all the poles intact as he steered Realt Na Carraig into second with a slightly slower time of 58.76. Hadley was a winner on numerous occasions in the last 12 months on the International circuit with the highlight undoubtedly coming when he claimed the Team Gold Medal at the Junior European Championships.
For the second week in a row, Cian O'Connor recorded the fastest time of the day but with a rail down, he had to settle for third once more. Having been placed at Tattersalls with Bogegaardens Apollonia, O'Connor was partnering Beverley Widdowson's Unique and broke the beam at 53.33. Unique has proved to be a strong part of O'Connor's team and heads to the RDS this week in top form.
Gerard Clarke is another rider that has scored on more than one occasion this season and is highly placed in the TRM/Horseware National Grand Prix League following two wins at that level. He slotted into fourth with Horseware Kellswater Crimson with a fence down in the second round in a time of 55.04.
Darryl Walker was another rider to incur four faults in the second round with Alfurist in 55.86 to take fifth just ahead of Captain Brian Curran Cournan and Starboard who had 12 faults in round two in 55.60.
TRM/Horseware Premier Series Leader Peter Smyth got a single point this afternoon finishing tenth with Victoria Rose and he now lies on 32 points. Last week's winning combination, Edward Doyle and Samgemjee moved into second place on the leaderboard as they collected three points for finishing seventh today. Doyle now has 29 points just ahead of Paddy O'Donnell, who didn't jump today, on 28.
With just the final round remaining, there is still a lot at stake and any one of the top five Riders can win the Series with points and a half on offer in Coilog on August 25th.
TRM/Horseware Premier Series - South County Dublin Junior Hunt Horse Show
€12,000 Kindly Sponsored by Bagnall & Associates
1st Mr Coolcaum/Liam O'Meara 0/0 58.43
2nd Realt Na Carraig/Sven Hadley 0/0 58.76
3rd Unique/Cain O'Connor 0/4 53.33
4th Horseware Kellswater Crimson/Gerard Clarke 0/4 55.04
5th Alfurist/Darryl Walker 0/4 55.86
6th StarboardCapt.Brian Curran Cournane 0/12 55.60
7 through to Jump off