British riders notched up an opening-day double at the Kerrygold Horse Show yesterday - Michael Whitaker drew first blood in the Kerrygold Speed Stakes and rookie Scott Smith claimed the feature Kerrygold Welcome Stakes.
But both wins came at the expense of the home side, when the Irish targets were shot down by the visitors.
Kilkenny-born Marion Hughes, who spends most of her time jumping on the continent and returned to Ireland only 10 days ago, was called in as pathfinder in a 16-horse jump-off for the Welcome Stakes.
But the high number of clears belied ghastly conditions when a thunderstorm and monsoon rain halfway through the class reduced the RDS main arena to a near quagmire.
Knowing that she had to put up a target that would force errors from those that followed, Hughes had the Belgian-bred mare Niley de la Ferma Rosa in overdrive from the outset to fly through the finish beam in 37.53 seconds for a target that gave her rivals plenty to do.
And none came close until, three from the end, Scott Smith hurtled round to slash off almost a full second with the French stallion, Cabri d'Elle.
Smith, who has been based in Warwickshire with Nick Skelton since March, was told in no uncertain terms what to do by his mentor. "I told him to go out and win," Skelton said afterwards. "We're not here to pussyfoot about."
And the 26-year-old certainly didn't pussyfoot about, galloping his Barcelona Grand Prix winner into the lead and even an inspired round from lastman-in Peter Charles couldn't deny him.
With Charles out of the way, Smith was able to lay claim to the winner's cheque, with Marian Hughes in second on Niley de la Ferma Rosa.
It was a real "if only" day for Peter Charles, as his round in the earlier Kerrygold Speed Stakes looked a dead cert for the winner's enclosure.
Traxdata Mulligan, which scored at both Wembley and Olympia last year, positively flattened the target set by Robert Smith and Senator Mr Springfield to gallop firmly into the lead with just five left to jump.
Dermott Lennon, star of Ireland's European championship gold medal team, slotted in behind Charles with the mare Liscalgot for a temporary Irish one-two.
But both were pushed down the order when Michael Whitaker avenged Robert Smith's relegation by slicing off almost three seconds for his 10th international win with First Samuel, which he started riding just five months ago.
The bad weather failed to dampen the excitement in the main arena, but there was a minor shadow cast over the international jumping when Italian rider Roberto Cristofoletti was fined 750 Swiss francs (£300) when his horse Overcast was found to have bleeding sides from excessive use of the spurs.
The rider has also been requested to present the horse for veterinary examination this afternoon or else withdraw it from the rest of the week's competitions.