• Post published:June 22, 2015

Following his impressive performance, which saw Ireland finish third in the Nationā€™s Cup at St Gallen, Greg Broderick returned to home soil to record his first National Grand Prix win of the 2015 series. Riding Frances Oā€™ Reganā€™s ten-year-old gelding MHS Automatic, the Tipperary rider took the honours in this weekendā€™s TRM/Horseware National Grand Prix at Galway County Show.

Speaking after the win Broderick said; ā€œ I was delighted with how both horses jumped. I was unlucky with Golden Exchange as a slip towards the end of the course slowed her down. Even with the slip however, she put in a great round. Elizabeth Power set the target I knew that there was no room for error after this. It is great to see our event riders competing in the Grand Prixā€™s and doing very well. I know Ian Fearon encourages them to take part at this level and they are now proving to be a force to be reckoned with on the Grand Prix circuit.

ā€œMHS Automatic has delivered some impressive results on the International scene so I was confident that he was on form. He is naturally quick and I knew that if all the poles stayed in place that he could make up some time. Thankfully it worked out that way. I now look forward to the final of the Jumping in the City series in Shelbourne, before heading off on International duty againā€

As always Galway County Show proved popular and boasted a strong start-list of 44 combinations. From the original starters, just nine maintained clean sheets to proceed to the timed round.

International event rider Elizabeth Power set the target to beat when delivering a clear in 42.52 seconds with Doonaveeragh O One. Although Elizabeth is better known for her success in the eventing field, her mount is no stranger to the Grand Prix circuit having formed part of many Grand Prix line-upā€™s in the past with Elizabethā€™s brother Robert Power.

Double handed in the jump-off, Broderick got his first look at Paul Duffyā€™s jump-off track with Golden Exchange. Wasting no time, Broderick took a similar route to Power, but a slip towards the end of the course cost him dearly and as a result a time of 42.82 seconds failed to demote Power, but later proved good enough for third.

Mayo native Shane Goggins kept it tight withā€™ John Mullins stallion UFO, but despite a good attempt, a clear in 44.70 saw him take fourth.

Gabriel Tunney didnā€™t waste any time with Lavish and a clear in 45.89 saw him finish just behind Goggins in the line-up.

Competing in their second National Grand Prix of the season, Alexander Butler and Dekato also kept all the poles in place, albeit in the slower time of 49.80 for sixth. This was another good result for the seven-year-old gelding having finished fifth in the RDS qualifiers in Coilog.

Returning for the second time, Broderick had the advantage with MHS Automatic. Following his recent tour of International duty the pairing made it look easy as they crossed the line almost two seconds faster in 40.30 seconds to claim victory and the ā‚¬4,000 on offer in the Ashford Farm sponsored class.

TRM/Horseware National Grand Prix League Galway County Horse Show 21stĀ June 2015 result:
Sponsored by Ashford Farm

1st MHS Automatic/G Broderick 0/0/40.30
2nd Doonaveeragh O One/E Power 0/0/42.52
3rd Golden Exchange/G Broderick 0/0/ 42.82
4th UFO/S Goggins 0/0/44.70
5th Lavish/G Tunney 0/0/45.89
6th Dekato/A Butler 0/0/49.80