MANY breeders and producers in this country will be hoping that a precedent hasn’t been set by the champion youngstock titles at last month’s Northern Ireland Festival and last week’s Balmoral Show being won by England-based horses.

True, the Balmoral champion Waters Meet, a three-year-old lightweight Irish Sport Horse gelding by Chillout, is owned by Skibbereen’s Regina Daly but he, and the champion yearling, the British-bred Tell Me Another, are being produced for that Co Cork owner by Steve Pitt who is based just outside Newmart in Suffolk.

This wakes a first show for the grey Waters Meet who was bred in Co Mayo by Vincent Maloney out of the unraced thoroughbred mare Miss Island Lady, a half-sister to two point-to-point winners. Pitt, who was paying a first visit to Balmoral, suggested that Waters Meet would have one more outing before heading to Dublin.

Daly’s Equine Trucks Ireland champion yearling is by the Fleetwater Opposition stallion Future Illusion and was bred in Devon by Cathy Wood out of her Brief Encounter mare Kiss And Tell, a half-sister to Stormhill Miller.

The reserve champion yearling was Ann Lyons’s filly Silent Valley who, on her debut, was shown for the Ballynahinch exhibitor by Cork’s Aidan Williamson. The bay, who is heading to Dublin, is by Tolan R and was bred in Co Tyrone by Willie Little out of the Emperor Augustus mare My Valleys Angel.

Red letter day

Wednesday marked a red letter day for Adrianna Hurst who, on her first time to show in hand at Balmoral, finished fourth in this yearling fillies’ class with the home-bred Arkan bay, Tattygare It’s All About Me.

Lyons also won the two-year-old fillies’ classes with The Quiet River who is the first foal on the Irish Horse Register out of the Ghareeb mare Slatequarry Katie. Finbarr McCarthy’s Now You See Me, who is out of the Limmerick mare Rubia, was second. Both fillies were bred in Co Down by Moira McKelvey and both are by Golden Lariat.

David and Charlotte Kirkpatrick had a very good show which started on Wednesday in the two-year-old geldings’ class where their Elusive Emir bay Redwood Diamond topped the final line-up. The winner, who was bred in Co Mayo by Gerard O’Malley, is out of the Mise Eire mare Mise Dimond.

Also going through to the youngstock championship as winners of their classes were the home-bred three-year-olds, Gina Heaps’s medium/heavyweight gelding Carrowgar Herald and Thomas Conlon’s chesnut filly Lisbrogan Gold.

The ISH gelding Carrowgar Herald is by Herald III (a son of the renowned eventing sire Heraldik) out of the Flagmount King mare Equine Connect Monchie whose own dam, the thoroughbred Gritty Shoon (by Sheer Grit), was a foundation mare for Heaps.

The Quinn based-exhibitor, who also breeds show jumpers, revealed that while her horse was only fifth at Dublin last year, she knew he would improve with age.

While John and Vicki Keen from Buckinghamshire were very efficient in judging the classes, the system fell down a bit when it came to the championship as horses were late arriving back to the P&O Ferries Arena and those ringside were unsure as to what championship was actually being judged.

As ever, it all came right in the end and, much to the delight of his owner and her supporters, Regina Daly’s Waters Meet was crowned champion with Tom Conlon’s Lisbrogan Gold being awarded the reserve sash.

That daughter of the Selle Français stallion Leprince Des Bois was then announced as the filly champion ahead of The Quiet River while she was also crowned champion exhibitor-bred with Carrowgar Herald standing reserve.

Lisbrogan Gold, who was reserve champion filly at Dublin last August, is out of the British-bred mare Trelissick, a daughter of the thoroughbred stallion Hand In Glove, and Conlon is justifiably proud of his home-bred chesnut.

“This filly went out to grass after Dublin last year and this is just her fourth time off the farm. While I have sold her yearling half-sister (by Esteban) to Alan Waldmann in The Netherlands, I plan to hold on to this filly and produce her under saddle myself. I plan on doing working hunters and a bit of eventing with her before she starts breeding. Her dam had a Tiger Attack filly four weeks ago and will be bred to Shannondale Sarco next weekend.”

Champion broodmare

The Keens also judged the breeding stock section and found their champion broodmare, Assagart Wonder, in the medium/heavyweight class. John Roche’s 17-year-old Flagmount King bay had 44 Showjumping Ireland points before retiring to stud at the end of 2005.

Like Roche, Julie Radden of Wexford Horse Transport is a loyal Balmoral exhibitor and this year she took the reserve slot with her well-known 18-year-old Mr H mare Rose Garland who was shown by David Lyons. In her lightweight class, Radden’s bay stood ahead of Roche’s six-year-old Kings Master mare Assagart Dawn whose latest offspring, by Lansdown, won the filly foal class.

The winner of the colt foal class was a bay by the ISH stallion Masters Choice out of Shaun Doherty’s Surely Knot, a five-year-old daughter of Windsor Knot, who, third in the lightweight class, won the Angelique trophy as the highest-placed thoroughbred mare.

Joanne Maguire’s Lady Hattie failed to feature in the first three here last year but, on Wednesday, won the Irish Draught mare class for her Westmeath exhibitor who purchased her two years ago. Bred by Gabriel and Madeleine Tunney in Tempo, Co Fermanagh, the 2011 grey is by Agherlow out of the Star Kingdom mare Bell Lady.

Swinford’s Ian Murphy took second the in the ID mare class with his five-year-old Clonakilty Hero mare Ava’s Delight who also filled the runner-up slot in her class at Dublin last August. The chesnut, who was bred in Co Mayo by John Lavin out of a Golden Warrior mare was shown with her foal by Carrigfadda Troy who won the pure-bred foal class.

The winning half-bred foal was the Milligan daughter of the thoroughbred Primary out of the seven-year-old Heigh Hi Dubh mare, Sallywell June.