The Junior track was certainly a lot less testing than that offered to their older counterparts but having said that it was by no means a "walk in the park" - even though the height was not there, there were plenty of technical lines with related distances which caught a few out.

I am unsure as to why the decision was taken to make the Junior Speed Class a Table A against the clock as it is not quite as exciting to watch as a Table C class but these youngsters certainly performed well and it was a great class for them to acclimatise their horses to the arena and the climate.

With 76 combinations under starters orders this was going to be a class which required clear jumping to be in with any chance of a placing especially when the last horse had jumped the tally of clear rounds was 39 clears, so the times had to be good and they were - some took it a little too cautiously and jumped clear but collected time penalties.

The Germans, who were the bookies favourites open the batting in this class and as first rider out Taja Sprehe riding Gestut Spreche's Franco 43 (pictured below left) produced a careful clear round but is was cautious with a time of 83.27secs.

By the time the final scores were in though the Germans did not have a great day with no riders in the top 10 - whereas the surprise came from the Hungarian riders who finished with four riders in the top 10 and their riding style may not have been as "polished" as some of the other countries but they have some superb horsepower and worked well together with their horses and in the end what matters is where you ar ein the lineup and the Hungarians were there in force.

Pictured below is Gyula Szumai for Hungary on his own 1995

Norwegians have often been overshadowed by their Swedish neighbours, much as the Irish have been overshadowed by the British but it would seem that the Norwegians have decided to start with building a strong team of juniors who will then hopefully go on to be a stron team of seniors in the not too distant future! The winner of the class was one by Benedict Grieg (pictured above left) riding Grieg Seafood AS' Isolde Gosse de Cerisy, a 1994 Sell Francaise mare by Rosire out of Coluche de Cerisy and they blizted the field with their clear round in 73.10secs.

Ireland's juniors were happy enough with their performance on the opening day and Chef Liam Buckley was pleased with them, as was coach John Leddingham. Mark McCauley opened the batting for Ireland with Sara McCauley's 1996 Westphalean stallion, Luciano 175 by Lancer II out of Fera (pictured below left) and they finished with four faults in the careful time of 83.47secs.