Eventing - Clark & Ryan In Impressive Badminton Top Ten Finish

In an impressive result for Irish three-day eventing, Aoife Clark with Vaguely North and Michael Ryan on the Irish Sport Horse Ballylynch Adventure finished in the top ten at the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials in England this afternoon (Sunday).

Dublin-born Clark, who was lying in 11th place after the dressage and cross country phase, had just one fence down today to lift her into eighth overall, while Bandon-based Ryan delivered a perfect clear round to hoist him up from overnight 21st to ninth at the end of play.

A deceptively difficult show jumping course saw many international favourites drop down the rankings as poles fell, and the Irish duo benefited by holding their nerve during the vital final phase.

Irish breeding was also well represented at Badminton, with three Irish Sport Horses finishing in the top ten. One Two Many, ridden by Britain's Nicola Wilson, finished in seventh place, Ryan's Ballylynch Adventure - owned by Carol and Tom Henry and Sheila Foley - finished in eighth, while last year's Badminton Winner, Paulank Brockagh, ridden by Australia's Sam Griffiths, was tenth today.

This year's victor was William Fox-Pitt with Chilli Morning, the first British winner at Badminton since Oliver Townend took the trophy in 2009 with Flint Curtis.

Ireland's Vaguely North is owned by the Duchess of Bedford and Jacqueline Norris, while Ballylynch Adventure's owners are Carol and Tom Henry and Sheila Foley.

Irish scores after the final show jumping phase were:

8th Aoife Clark/Vaguely North 51.7 penalties 9th Michael Ryan/Ballylynch Adventure (ISH) 53.3 penalties 25th Joseph Murphy/Sportsfield Othello (ISH) 66.4 penalties 30th Clare Abbott/Euro Prince (ISH) 69.2 penalties 34th Sam Watson/Horseware Bushman (ISH)(TIH) 73.6 penalties 40th Camilla Speirs/Portersize Just a Jiff (ISH)(TIH) 78.2 penalties 45th Elizabeth Power/September Bliss 82.8 penalties