Irish eventing celebrated yesterday when Aoife Clark became the first rider from this country to take the feature class at Blenheim, England, while the junior rider team took gold in the European Championships, along with bronze for the young rider team.

“Simply awesome,” was how Kildare-born Aoife Clark de scribed Fenyas Elegance last night, after the pair finished runners-up at Chatsworth Horse Trials in England in the mare’s first outing at three-star level.

The FEI Nations Cup Series begins today in La Baule, France, and, important as it is, it will play second fiddle to the Olympics.