Mallow-born Austin O'Connor had always been something of a hero in Co Cork, although his status was raised dramatically last month with a fourth-place finish at Badminton on the mare Simply Rhett. Now, on home ground at the Blarney Castle International, the 24-year-old is currently lying third in the two-star class behind double Olympic champion Mark Todd.
O'Connor, who only recently took over the ride on Mystery Man because of injuries to the horse's owner Louise Skelton, rode supremely on the talented grey for a mark of 78 that leaves him 12 marks behind Thursday's leaders, Todd and the mare Dazzling Light, with Britain's Leslie Law and Shear l'Eau second. Just for good measure, Todd is also in joint fourth with his own stallion Aberjack.
"I'd be quite happy to finish second," O'Connor said yesterday after his dressage, "but it'll be the biggest course he's ever jumped and it's a bit like the dressage, if it goes well it'll be really good."
O'Connor and Mystery Man head out around the 24-fence cross-country at 5.53 p.m. today, but the one-star horses get the action under way at just after 10.0 this morning, with Andrew Hoy second out on the track on seventh-placed Pride Of India. The Australian has a six-point lead with the second of his rides for Susan Magnier, Moon Fleet, demoting Hoy's German girlfriend and reigning European champion Bettina Overesch to second with Woodsides Ashby.
Young rider Paul Dempsey, level pegging with Hoy in seventh place, is the best of the Irish with the grey Pepe Le Pew, while there is another grey at the head of the junior class, the seasoned campaigner Archie Brown, now in the hands of Gerald Bloomer, holding a six-point lead over Elaine Ham with One More Time.
BLARNEY CASTLE TWO-STAR (placings after dressage) - 1, New Zealand's Dazzling Light (Mark Todd), 67 penalties; 2, Britain's Shear L'Eau (Leslie Law), 76; 3, Ireland's Mys- tery Man (Austin O'Connor), 78; equal 4, New Zealand's Aberjack (Mark Todd) and Britain's Midnight Dazzler (Katie Parker), 80; equal 6, Australia's Fiddlers Bow (Robert Slade), Italy's St Ivers (Antonio Sanfelice) and Denmark's Chafford Park (Ulrik Molaard), 83; equal 9, Ire- land's Horseware Halcyon Days (Jenny Pratt) and Sweden's Double Dealer (Anna Lidar), 85.
Blarney Castle One-Star - 1, Australia's Moon Fleet (Andrew Hoy), 55 penalties; 2, Germany's Woodsides Ashby (Bettina Overesch), 61; 3, Britain's Plenipotentiary (Tanya Liddle), 65; 4, America's Better Boots (Karen Reuter), 68; 5, Denmark's Grumbla (Eric Molgaard), 71; 6, Britain's Miss Piggy II (John Paul Sheffield), 72; equal 7, Ireland's Pepe Le Pew (Paul Dempsey) and Australia's Pride Of India (Andrew Hoy), 74.
Juniors - 1, Ireland's Archie Brown (Gerald Bloomer), 76 penalties; 2, Ireland's One More Time (Elaine Ham), 82; 3, Ireland's Sportsfield Pick 'n' Mix (Kate Kennan), 83; 4, Ireland's Glencool (Louise Nicholson), 84; 5, Ireland's Horseware Starman (Ciaran Glynn), 86; 6, Ireland's Floating (Rozzie Watson), 88.
