THE old showing adage of ‘a different day, different judges’ proved true once again at Dublin for the Coote Cup broodmare and foal classes on Saturday morning.

It was an even earlier start for Newtownards owner Yvonne Pearson whose Kief Queen B was in action in the main arena. Already a winner on Thursday in lightweight hunter mare class, the Munther mare and producer Lesley Webb went on to stand reserve hunter mare champion before a quick sprint back to Ring 1 for the stinted mare class.

As forecast, it was a vintage class and judges Mark Fitton, on Dublin duty again, and bloodstock agent Hamish Alexander had their work cut out for them deciding this one.

Delight

Earlier that morning, the Brooklands Bedding-sponsored classes began with the middle/heavyweight broodmare class and P.J. Lehane pulled out all the stops to catch the judges’ eyes in the individual trot-up with his home-bred PJ’s Delight.

The Lux Z mare and her Munther filly had stood in the Breeders’ Championship backline the previous day but the first salvo of a comeback was fired when she repeated her 2017 win in this opening class.

Standing second was Derry Rothwell’s Greenhall Wishing Well, by the multiple Dublin champion Crosstown Dancer. Now a seven-year-old, she was another in Ring 1 with main arena form having won the 2016 hunter mare champion and reserve supreme titles.

Another traditional-bred took third place for John Mulconroy, who had finally persuaded that well-known Banner county breeder Willie Boland to part with the lovely Able’s Mistress. The eye-catching Ryelands Sea Master grey was a showring newcomer this summer and is now in foal to Future Trend.

Mayo and Murphy winning streaks continued in the following lightweight mare class, won by Mary Murphy’s Mermus R mare Castlegate Sweet Emotion.

The seven-year-old was bought from breeder Pat Finn in Oranmore on the same day as the Murphys also bought their other good campaigner Frenchfort Black Beauty.

Standing second was Richard Gildea’s Miss Cranny Lancelot, who fared the best of all the Breeders’ Championship mares on Saturday morning, and in third was Lesley-Anne Duke and Paul Horner’s Brookfield’s Showdown, by Amiro M.

Back to the stinted mare class where Kief Queen B (her unusual prefix is a combination of breeder Kieran Fahey, his wife Irene and son Eoin’s names) saw off some stiff opposition to win the strongest class of the day. Promoted to second place was John and Julia Crosby’s former dual champion Hankalaine, ahead of last year’s Coote Cup reserve champion Stephen Culliney’s Kilkeany Mystic.

The widely-held prediction that the stinted mare class winner would be this year’s champion proved true with Queen B, now in foal to Greenan Fort and shown in her in-hand days by Mayo producer Anthony Gordon, called forward.

“The champion just has such great movement and self-carriage, she really lifted herself over the ground,” remarked Fitton,

Standing reserve was P.J. Lehane, whose Dublin fortunes continued to improve when his PJ’s One, sold earlier in the season to her handler Niall O’Donovan, won a strong filly foal class.

West Cork exhibitors dominated the foal class results with Leo Cahalane taking second with his Golden Master full-sister to last year’s All Ireland colt foal champion and in third was Limerick owner Leonard Supple with his Chacoa filly.

MUNTHER MARK

Kieran O’Gorman’s thoroughbred stallion Munther made his mark in the colt foal class, initially headed by the Breeders’ Championship winning foal MD Sandyhill Sir Charles.

The final line-up was then completely scrambled with Declan Daly’s Munther colt moving up ahead of John and Mary Margaret Roche’s Assagart Hopes And Desires.

The tide had been out the previous day too for this Castleforbes Lord Lancer colt and his dam, the defending winning mare Assagart My Only Hope in the Breeders’ Championship. In third was another of the 2018 finalists, Richard Gildea’s Correnagh Rumour.

Unlike their Irish Draught counterparts, there is no sport horse championship, however the thoroughbred-sired foal class turned out to be an unofficial one with Lehane’s filly winning this class, ahead of Daly’s colt foal and completing the West Cork whitewash was Leo Cahalane’s Golden Master filly.