AFTER two days of Horse Sport Ireland inspections, the latest batch of approved stallions were added to the various studbooks. There were the usual hard luck stories, satisfied connections and disappointed owners, plus several absentees from the 2025 catalogue - including Double Pleasure and HSH Harper du Seigneur - due to transport logistics or slight injuries picked up pre-Cavan.

Overall, it was the best balance between Irish Draughts (the backbone of the Cavan inspections, both in terms of entries and spectators) and Irish Sport Horses at the inspections.

John Niland’s Rhynn Blackie Go Lucky kicked off the Class 1 approvals for the Irish Draught studbook on Thursday morning. Accordingly, his breeders - Michael and Chris Mannion - start this year’s Breeders’ 10 series featuring successful Cavan breeders (see page 75).

No one can yet rival Tom Burke’s Cavan record of breeding/owning six Class 1 stallions, although nine more Draught stallions (four more than in 2024), joined the approved ranks too: Damien Whelan’s Abbeyward Zero, Janice Reddy’s Ardnacashel Monarch, Ann Lambert’s Ashfield Bouncer, Elizabeth Deane Cogan’s Baltydaniel Arthur, Tommy Butler’s Coolfin Gentleman, Michael and Chris Mannion’s Coom View Highlander, Gabriel Slattery Jnr’s Fuerty Welcome Lad, Seamus Duffy’s Kilmovee White Lion and Sophie Meehan’s Longwood Sandyman.

Ashfield Bouncer, the only pure-bred Draught to win the Dublin three-year-old loose jumping (2021), was also approved in the Irish Sport Horse studbook and earned a Silver Merit for his show jumping performance.

No thoroughbred entries this year, however, traditional breeders received a boost when two home-bred Traditional Irish Horses (TIH): Liam O’Meara’s Sir Jim Jim and Susan Malee’s Carrabeg The Full Irish, climbed the ranks.

Sir Jim Jim was fully approved with a one-star rating, while Malee’s grey is now one step away from full approval status. Gary Jackson’s Dutch-bred Aristoteles V received a full five-star rating last Friday. A €142,000 winner of the Saugerties CSI5* Grand Prix five years ago with Jonathan McCrea (USA), the pair also finished fourth to Kent Farrington and Gazelle in the ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Spruce Meadows in 2016.

The four-star rated Mylord Carthago son My Way is the latest full approval to stand at Eamon and Gladys McArdle’s Drumhowan Stud and Sven Hadley’s Diamant de Semilly-sired Phenomene Blue VDM (three-star) brought the number of star-rating sires at Cavan this year to four.

This year’s number of Preliminary Approved (or Stage 2) stallions matched 2024’s results (three). The 2025 trio are Susan Malee’s stallion and two from Ballypatrick Stables: Abba Van De Vrombautshoeve Z and Ulrik Van’t Merelsnest.

Both Belgian-breds sailed through Stage 1 on Thursday and stayed on for Friday’s Stage 2 assessments. Their GBBS teammates: Eros Van Het Lindenhof Z and Verbier De Muze passed Stage 1, as did Mikey Pender’s three-year-old Madgeslane Deise Vu, the first Warmblood Studbook of Ireland (WSI)-registered colt passed at Cavan.

Greg Broderick International was also well-represented in the Irish Sport Pony Studbook category. Both BP Bon Jovi (whose damline includes the Little Heaven descendant, the pure-bred Connemara mare Cokine Du Thot) and the French-bred Jeux D’Enfant Au Pena gained full and preliminary approval in the ISH and ISP studbooks. The same status for David Masterson’s Newhaven Theodore, who features Carnival Night in his pedigree.

Mexico-bound Mikey Pender and Madgeslane Deise Vu who passed Stage 1 at the HSI stallion inspections in Cavan this week \ Susan Finnerty

Cavan snippets

Liam O’Meara’s Sir Jim Jim was fully approved with a one-star rating at the March stallion inspections at Cavan \ Laurence Dunne jumpinaction.net

“If Mikey Pender can be here with his stallion, before he goes to Mexico, why can’t other breeders be interested enough to come along?” - One bemused spectator.

“To think about being in hospital and six, seven years later, here I still am. What kept me going too was being out in the fields with the horses.” - Michael Bailey.

“We’re delighted to have had several stallions approved at Stage 1 and 2, and both Preliminary Approved and fully approved horse and pony stallions at the recent HSI inspections. Many of these stallions will be available for viewing at our annual Ballypatrick open day.” - Cheryl Broderick.

“I think we are definitely seeing improvement. We’re seeing greater number of stallion owners coming out for inspection, which is always a positive. We haven’t overly changed the [inspection] process. Over the last two and a half, three years, we have been going through training programmes, adding new inspectors, so there are more inspectors coming on stream. By next year, I think we’re going to start to see new faces coming through.” - Denis Duggan, CEO of Horse Sport Ireland.

“We were in partnership with Axel Verlooy with Phenomene Blue VDM. Axel bought him as a three-year-old, he thought he was good. He came to us when he was a six-year-old, but he didn’t have anything done and he went from jumping 1m to 1.40m within six months. The minute we got him, we knew he was good. Last year, he was sixth in the Sires of the World in Lanaken and placed in Valkenswaard. Now he’s actually leaving tomorrow to go competing in Belgium for a few weeks and then come back for the breeding season.” - Sven Hadley.

“A very strong year for stallions. I think we had a really good diversity of Draughts in terms of type, in terms of bloodlines and even in terms of colour. That was really nice. I was delighted we had Kate and Pat [Hoare] with Moylough Supremacy to give him his Gold Merit.” - Drt Sonja Egan, HSI Head of Breeding, Innovation and Development.

“I’d give the system 100%, I think it’s very fair and deserves respect for the job it does.” - Padraig Howley.

“During lockdown, he went to Holland to start breeding. His eldest are three-year-olds from this. I managed to do a deal with Jonathan [McCrea] to get Aristoteles V later last year. He will be standing at Drumadarragh Stud and available with fresh semen nationwide.” - Gary Jackson.

“It’s only for I own him, I wouldn’t be here. He’s just my stallion, but I might sell him now, because I’ve just had enough of HSI.” - Ann Lambert, Ashfield Bouncer’s owner.

“Absolutely delighted. He scored, I understand, the highest marks of all the horses in the inspection. We’re looking forward to continuing his jumping and stud career this year, after his amazing five-year-old season. He never had a pole down. He’s really kind of shot up after [the WBFSH studbook championships at] Valkenswaard last year, that put him on the international stage. Now he’s got his preliminary approval, so he has to go on and jump two 1.40m [classes] for full approval, but we’re not in any rush with him. We’ll be bringing him on gradually.” - Susan Malee, Carrabeg The Full Irish’s owner-breeder.

“I’m the huntsman of the North Galway Foxhounds and I bought ‘Theo’ off Jerry and Catherine Fitzgerald, he’s one of the top pony producers in the country. This lad was showing great potential as a two-year-old. He’s a three-quarters brother to Newhaven Cooley, Richard Sheane’s pony that won Dublin last year and Theo’s father was unbeaten as a six and seven-year-old in Sweden.” - David Masterson, Newhaven Theodore’s owner.

“I’m going to Mexico for the Global Champions Tour with HHS Los Angeles, so I’m looking forward to that. We just covered HHS Fortune with Madgeslane Luidam a few days ago, so hopefully we get an embryo with that. That’s exciting. And it’s good that he’s getting such a great chance with some mares like that.” - Mikey Pender.

“I bought Ardnacashel Monarch here [in Cavan] as a foal and he was Irish Draught performance champion last year at Balmoral. He qualified for Balmoral again yesterday in Wexford.” - Janice Reddy.

Tommy Butler’s Coolfin Gentleman (ID) joined the approved ranks at the March stallion inspections at Cavan \ Laurence Dunne jumpinaction.net

THERE’s always a strong element of déjà vu at the Cavan inspections. Much to do with a familiar cast of characters, although there were welcome new faces too.

There is no doubt that Cavan has a strong social element for the loyal band of Draught fans who turn up, year upon year.

Splitting the Draught entries over two days meant Friday’s attendance was one-third of the previous day, when the bulk of the Draught candidates were present.

Cavan results can cause chatter quicker the infamous ‘Signal’ leaked group chat story and among day one’s talking points were Ashfield Bouncer (onlookers flocked from one side of Cavan EC to the other arena to watch him jump) and colourful additions amongst the Irish Draught entries.

Turned down as a four-year-old, Ann Lambert persevered with Ashfield Bouncer and he sailed through this year.

Being turned down at Cavan impacts in different ways. Some shrugged, saying the fact their stallion passed a rigorous vetting was as valuable a selling point as approval. Above all else, stallion owners deserve kudos for bringing their horses out.

‘A fashion that must still adhere to breed standards’ or an extremely commercial option were two viewpoints on the appearance of duns (buckskins) and palominos among Irish Draught entries.

Longwood Sandyman’s result of being the first palomino Class 1 approved at Cavan was matched later on Thursday by Coolfin Gentleman.

The most popular The Irish Field socials last week included the photo of Longwood Sandyman with owner Sophie Meehan, young Ted O’Carroll and the ‘Wave to The Irish Field!’ video of delighted owner David Masterson, sharing the good news with daughter Priya Cosgrove.

The sight of Ballypatrick Stables-branded clothing and rugs swirling round the Cavan arenas was another visual reminder of both the value of marketing and the depth of entries from the collaboration between GBBS International Ltd and Stal de Muze’s Joris de Brabender.

From sophisticated marketing to the more basic-but-welcomed-by-spectators addition of complimentary teas and coffees by HSI. Could a mobile passport service have joined the Burco boiler on the table, to bring more footfall to the inspections and sort passport queries?

Not so straightforward, said HSI CEO Denis Duggan. “There’s a lot of technology involved and our IT system is linked to a very sophisticated printing system. It’s not something that you can bring your laptop, a mobile printer and off we go.

“We had members of the team here, answering any questions and queries that people asked.”

More questions and answers too for the IFAC team conducting an inspections feedback survey among the attendees, lacking the annual presence this year of stalwart, the late Ellen Walton. She was missed.

And then there was the request on Thursday evening by Dermot O’Brien for a photo of himself and Matthew O’Meara. “Two cancer survivors,” said the Limerick man proudly.

Both their stories, Michael Bailey and more, put our sometimes oh-so-precious horse world and two days at Cavan into perspective.