Padraig McCarthy raced round the tight indoor arena at the TheraPlate UK Liverpool International Horse Show to win the John Oates Horseboxes Eventing Grand Prix.
Riding Tatiana Brent’s Rosemaber Lancuest, a 14-year-old mare by Orlando, he recorded a time of 91.37 seconds — fractionally ahead of Paul Sims, who prevented an Irish whitewash by finishing second in a time of 91.43 seconds.
“She’s a super-easy, fun mare who competed to CCI4* level but is now focusing on these classes,” said Padraig, who won the indoor eventing competition in Geneva on her last winter and finished third there this year.
Paul was riding nine-year-old Second City, owned by Hayley Mather and Mark Hogan.
“He’s cool — a really fun horse,” said Paul. “He loves this — he’s a real cross-country machine.
“This was quite a similar track to the ones [course-designer] Mark Phillips produced at Bolesworth, so I knew what to expect, but this was the first time that I have jumped the joker [the huge final fence which, if cleared, took three seconds off the riders’ times]!”
Continued below…
Horse & Hound Newsletter
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
Cathal Daniels took third place on Sarah Hughes’ Alcatraz II in a time of 92.98, just knocking the final joker fence down. Cathal, who also jumped in the under-25 grand prix at Liverpool last night, confirmed that he was keeping the ride on Alcatraz II, who spent the final part of the season with Oliver Townend after moving from Alex Bragg.
Joseph Murphy and 18-year-old Sportsfield Othello, veterans of two European Championships for Ireland, also only tipped the final joker fence to finish fourth in a time of 95.33 seconds. Emma Hyslop-Webb and Pennlands Douglas were fifth, and Laura Collett and Cooley Again took sixth place.
Check back on horseandhound.co.uk for more updates from the Liverpool International Horse Show plus report in the issue of Horse & Hound magazine dated 9 January.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
A St Andrews’ graduate, Catherine joined Horse & Hound in 2002 and stayed for 11 years in a variety of roles until she went freelance in June 2013. She rejoined the team part-time in November 2016 as hunting editor. She pretty much lives on the hunting field or at the racecourse, but also loves eventing, as a journalist, press officer and competitor. She was H&H’s sole accredited journalist at the London Olympic Games and has reported from major race meetings and eventing, showjumping and dressage championships and shows round the world, and has hunted all over Britain and Ireland.
