Piloting the Irish Sport Horse Master Crusoe, the 33 year-old from Naas out-rode many of the world’s most famous Three Day Eventing combinations to claim the coveted top ten place.

Lying 16th after Dressage on Friday, Clark climbed four places on Saturday to hold 12th position overnight, and today collected just one time fault on the challenging final phase to secure an eighth position on the leaderboard.

Clark, who finished overall seventh at the London Olympics last year with Master Crusoe, was one of eight Irish riders who qualified for this year’s Badminton event.

Carlow’s Sam Watson finished just outside the top 20 with the Irish Sport Horse Horseware Bushman, four faults in show jumping leaving him in 22nd overall.

Elizabeth Power also put in a strong show jumping performance, one fence down with the Irish Sport Horse September Bliss giving her a 26th place.

Other Irish places included first-timer Sarah Ennis in 38th, Joseph Murphy in 52nd, Jim Newsam in 55th and Michael Ryan in 63rd. Peter Hannigan was eliminated during the cross country phase.

The four-star Horse Trials were eventually won by Badminton first-timer, New Zealand’s Jock Paget and Clifton Promise.

Press Release – Horse Sport Ireland, Colin McClelland

Clark, who finished individual seventh at the Olympic Games in London was last to go today (Friday) and recorded a score of 45.8.

Joseph Murphy riding Electric Cruise (ISH) lies in 20th place after a score of 56.8, while Michael Ryan scored 64.5 penalties.

The competition is led by Australia’s Chris Burton and Holstein Park Leilani on a score of 43.0.

Ireland hasn’t won the event since Major Eddie Boylan took the trophy with Durlas Eile in 1965.

Five more Irish riders will compete tomorrow (Saturday) with the first into the ring being Sarah Ennis at 9:24 am followed by Elizabeth Power at 9:56, Peter Hannigan at 10:50, then Jim Newsam at 12.10 and finally Sam Watson at 14:36.

Horse Sport Ireland, Colin McClelland

A TOTAL of eight Irish riders will compete at the world famous Badminton Horse Trials in England, which get underway tomorrow morning (Friday).

In addition, some 27 of the 85 starters are Irish bred horses, representing countries such as the UK, the USA and New Zealand.

The UK Olympic medallist Zara Phillips, grand-daughter of Queen Elizabeth, will ride the Irish Sport Horse High Kingdom at the Gloucestershire venue.

Badminton is the largest outdoor sporting event in the UK with over 250,000 people expected to attend.

The eight Irish riders competing include Aoife Clark, who finished seventh at the Olympic Games in London, and Joseph Murphy, who came 14th.

Another member of Ireland’s Olympic Team, Michael Ryan, will be the first Irish rider into the ring on Friday, while rising stars Sam Watson and Elizabeth Power have already performed well at Badminton in previous years. The Irish line up is completed by first timers Sarah Ennis, Peter Hannigan and Jim Newsam.

Friday and Saturday will see the dressage phases of the competition with Sunday featuring the hugely popular cross country phase. The event will conclude on Sunday with the deciding show jumping element.