Laura Mantel takes the Connolly’s RED MILLS Senior Newcomers Masters
Saturday 13 August 2016

Staying calm and collected was the order of the day for Laura Mantel as she took the lead in the Connolly’s RED MILLS Senior Newcomers Masters riding her six year old bay mare Funnycan. After hearing from other riders in the collecting ring how fast Roger McCrea’s round was with Davinci VD Bosrand Z, she knew she had her work cut out if she wanted to take the title.
As she navigated her way around the jump off course, Funnycan took everything in her stride as they maintained a steady and consistent pace finishing in a time of 39.81 seconds. Hot on her tail was Tracy Priest riding Caruso D' eres Z, but the pair didn’t quite do enough to beat Laura and Cany as she is known at home. With four HOYS qualifiers on offer for the top four, the lucky recipients were: Laura Mantel with Funnycan, Tracy Priest with Caruso D' eres Z, Roger McCrea with Davinci VD Bosrand Z and Jake Saywell with Quimari W.
Laura has had Cany since she was an unbroken three year old and has produced the mare herself: “New Priory Stud own her but I have backed her and produced her since they bought her as a three year old. She has a lovely long stride which covers a lot of ground which is great for a jump off because you don’t feel as though you are going that fast, then you look at the clock and realise that actually you did! Although other people have ridden her, I’m the only one who has ever competed her. She’s got such a chilled out attitude and is very careful,” explained Laura.
Connolly’s RED MILLS:
Connolly's RED MILLS is an Irish family owned company, providing precision nutrition for a wide range of equine needs. The company was established in 1908 in Co. Kilkenny, and today, exports to over 50 countries worldwide. For people who value their horses as high performers, Connolly's RED MILLS has been the automatic choice for over 100 years. We know just what it takes to get you the best results in terms of equine nutrition, health, well-being and performance. Some of the most successful high-performance sport horses in the world have been fed on Connolly’s RED MILLS and we are delighted to launch our new dedicated Sport Horse range of feeds. The quality products that produce these results are supported by nutritional research along with some of the most technologically advanced innovation and manufacturing processes in the world. For further information, please visit www.redmills.co.uk/Horses/Home.