Greg Broderick is certainly a man on a mission as he claimed yet another victory in the TRM/Horseware New Heights Champions Series at Balmoral National Championships last Tuesday (18th July). Riding Chinook II, Broderick lodged the winning round of clear in 47.68 seconds.

Owned by Molly Tracy, Chinook II is a 10 year-old Dutch warmblood by Verdi out of Unavanta. A former mount of Veronica Tracy and before that Anthony Condon, the gelding has competed on the international circuit up to 1.60m.

Broderick has dominated this series from the off when taking the opening round at Louth County in April. The Tipperary rider has claimed four of the seven rounds that have taken place and three of which were aboard Chinook II. This result at Balmoral places this combination top of the leaderboard on 38 points heading into the next round at Tattersalls this coming weekend.

It was another competitive class with 29 starters going to post. From the original starters, eight returned to contest the second round. Of those, six had maintained clean sheets, while two had incurred a single time fault.

Hot on Broderick’s heals was Clem McMahon who also kept all the poles in place with Aldaluck in a time of 49.07 for second place. McMahon has also proved consistent in the series, taking the round in Mullingar, the runner-up spot in Galway and Cork and fourth in Omagh.

Runner’s-up the day before in the SJI National, Jenny Rankin put in another good performance when she piloted Tullibards Bennys Legacy to a clear in 51.42 for third place.

Nicholas Butler and Vimminka also answered all the questions in a slower time of 51.47 for eventual fourth.

Winner’s of the round in Omagh, Vincent Byrne and Hannibal V Overis Z were back in the line-up when they slotted into fifth place when clear in 52.30 seconds. This was an important result for this combination as a consistent performance now puts him just behind Broderick on the leaderboard.

Placed fifth the day before in the SJI National Grand Prix, fellow Kilkenny rider Susan Fitzpatrick also featured in the line-up. Riding Cavalino, she completed the first round on single time fault, but a clear second time out in 61.55 seconds saw her take sixth place.

Also carrying a time fault from the first round, Dermott Lennon was looking to improve that performance with Gelvins Touch, but another time fault added to his first round score when crossing the line in 64.38 seconds saw him take seventh place.

Captain Geoff Curran and Ringwood Glen put in a faultless performance first time out, but retired in the second round.

Results
1st: Greg Broderick/ Chinook 11 0/ 0- 47.68
2nd: Clem McMahon/ Aldaluck 0/0- 49.07
3rd: Jenny Rankin/ Tullibards Bennys Legacy 0/0 – 51.42
4th: Nicholas Butler/ Vimminka 0/0 – 51.47
5th: Vincent Byrne/ Hannibal V Overis Z 0/0 52.30
6th: Susan Fitzpatrick/ Cavalino 1/ 0 – 61.55
7th:Dermot Lennon/ Gelvins Touch 1/ 1 – 64.38
8th: Captain Geoff Curran/ Ringwood Glen 0/R
9th: Captain Geoff Curran/ Shannondale Rahman 4
10th: Clem McMahon/ Hilton Pacato 4