ENGLAND’s Simon Somers, who judged conformation for the hunter classes at the recent Tattersalls Ireland July Show, said he loved visiting the Dublin Horse Show for two reasons – the quality of the ridden horses and the passionate interest shown by spectators in the breeding and youngstock classes.

You can expect large crowds around Ring 1 next Thursday morning, when those horses forward for the first of the youngstock classes, that for two-year-old colts and geldings, come under the scrutiny of English judges, Anthony Bromley and Tom March.

The former is a regular visitor to these shores as a member of the Highflyer Bloodstock team and as racing manager for leading National Hunt owners, Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, who have many horses here with Willie Mullins and Stuart Crawford.

Tom used to buy a lot of horses in Ireland, but these days concentrates more on the March Stud he and wife Piggy, the Badminton and Burghley winner and British team regular, have established to breed, produce and sell top-level event horses.

Co Mayo’s Tiernan Gill, chairman of the Irish Horse Board, won the younsgtock title here last August with Flogas Penelope, a three-year-old Dutch Warmblood filly by Jardonnay VDL.

He has some imported stock to show again this season, but also the Irish Sport Horse filly Frenchfort Kildysart (by Chelis HC Z), who was champion two-year-old at Balmoral. The supreme champion at the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society show was another ISH filly, Paula Howard’s Tullabeg Hello, a bay three-year-old by Hiello.

Bypassing Balmoral, but a multiple championship winner since, is Sharon Kelly-Murphy’s Annaghmore Dunkirk, who was reserve supreme to Flogas Penelope last August.

Shown for his owner by Shirley Hurst, the HHS Cornet gelding, who will be accompanied to Dublin by his year younger full-brother, will be one of the favourites to claim the youngstock title, having won the prestigious All-Ireland three-year-old championship at the Bannow and Rathangan Show last month.

Jane Bradbury and Daphne Tierney may not have any ridden hunters to exhibit at next week’s Dublin Horse Show, but they do have three horses entered, one three-year-old and a pair of two-year-olds, in a bid to regain the youngstock title they won in 2022 with Bloomfield Watergate, who went on to be crowned last year’s supreme hunter champion.