THE small hunter classes at Dublin have been well publicised in Britain this year with the successes across the water of champions, Glencairn Boy (2016) and Chantilly Bojangles (2015).
Tigs N Jigs, who was reserve to Glencairn Boy last July, isn’t coming back next week to contest the six-year-old and upwards class she won 12 months ago. However, her Grangecon owner, Jill Casey, will be represented by Rubys Pleasure, a 2010 chesnut mare who will be ridden by the owner’s daughter, Mary-Ann.
A winner recently in Dungarvan, Kate McMahon’s home-bred Inis Faith, a 12-year-old Nautilus mare who will be ridden by the owner/breeder’s daughter Amory, is returning to see if she can improve on her third-place finish of last year while it would be surprising if this older class wasn’t a target for the O’Gorman family’s Nash Me gelding Its After Eight.
Hilary Gibson’s eight-year-old Obelix gelding Tobergill Classic Felix holds a couple of entries next week, one in this class where he will be partnered by Jamie Smyth, and Ryan Anderson will sit up on the skewbald Pinecroft Clover who the rider owns in partnership with Maxine Forsyth.
Philippa Scott has entered her Balmoral and Tattersalls winner SCT Le Bijou de Reve, a 2012 gelding by Hermes de Reve, in the four and five-year-old class where among his opponents will be Pat Loughlin’s The Pickpocket.
This WRS Sun Rich gelding was third to Scott’s chesnut at Balmoral after which he recorded numerous class wins and was champion hunter and reserve supreme ridden horse at Wexford Equestrian.
Coming up from Cork will be Val Hyde’s home-bred four-year-old Crosstown Dancer gelding, My Royal Dancer, while Co Armagh’s Alison Crozier will be bringing down her five-year-old Chipolini VM Z gelding Mastermind who was fourth in Balmoral.