THE appearance of two pure-bred Connemaras Cul Bawn Mistress (Silver Shadow) and Ardfry Skye (Cashelbay Prince) on the Irish gold medal team at last weekend’s European pony show jumping championships was marketing gold for the breed and the Clifden performance classes are another key showcase event.

Fresh from their Dublin victory, an Irish team claimed another performance championship victory, seeing off the challenge of the visiting Scottish and English teams.

Chef d’equipe Mary Coyne’s squad of Alicia Devlin Byrne (Brock Blizzard), Talitha Diamond (Sea Storm), Caoimhe Curran (Charlie of Blakehill) and Rachel Alken (Gallant Prince) booked their place at the head of Friday evening’s parade through Clifden by their win.

Another to record a winning double was Noreen O’Connor’s Agharanny Minstrel. By Castleside JJ and partnered by her daughter Edwina, the pair won back-to-back Clifden working hunter championships.

The Wexford combination won the working hunter stallion class, with Aidan Jones’s distinctive roan Brock Blizzard (Ashfield Romeo) in second. The reserve champion was Jane Reid’s Ramor Lad (Murphy’s Oscar) from the over 16 rider division.

Judge Pat Stirling from the Scottish borders, who co-judged with Rachel Mulgrew, was impressed by the pair saying: “They had wonderful, powerful movement. They were so sound in their movement with so much drive which is so nice to see, because most of it [movement] is airy-fairy and daisy cutting, but they had such tremendous powerful movement, which you don’t often see in a lot of the Connemaras.”

One of the youngest contenders in the Horse Sport Ireland working hunter classes was the four to six-year-old class winner, Milford Lad (Ashfield Hunters Jewel), ridden by young Cadhla Cunningham, a recent show jumping winner at the IPC Festival.

High performance

A stiff track, built by Tony Ennis, which again included the double of banks, sifted out the Clifden High Performance final contenders. Driving rain didn’t help conditions and several combinations, most falling foul of the combination, found the rider exiting the arena on foot.

From the four clears, the win and Westside Mirah Trophy went to Riona Finn’s Carrowmore Rebel (Dexters Leam Pondi), well ridden by Conor Leahy. This pair qualified at the recent Midlands Connemara Show. The reserve champion was the Banner County combination of Ava Vaughan and Coral Tom (Coral Ross) that had qualified at Charleville.

There was one outright winner of the popular Clifden Puissance and taking the €1,000 prize money, put up by Enda Morley, and the Bobby Sparrow Blue Trophy, was Blackwood Fernando (Ferdia), partnered by his owner Claire Devlin’s daughter Alicia.

“This is his second time winning the Puissance outright and third time winning it jointly. He won in Dublin last week, the new team chase, he’s won the High Performance here three times and he’s won the working hunter championship here, I’d say, four or five times,” said Alicia about the evergreen veteran, the only one to clear the 1.45m wall.

Winning deputy

With Regal Diplomat’s owner Harriet Byrne in Sri Lanka last week, her sister Jenny Byrne deputised to win the ridden championship. The Gleann Rua Maxwell gelding had also won his in-hand class. The ridden reserve champion was the side-saddle class winner, Rosscon Camille and her owner-rider Thomasina O’Reilly. The sight of this pair in the Friday evening parade sent watching tourists cameras into overdrive.

“He [Regal Diplomat] was the pony that both judges would have liked to take home because he had great bone, substance, movement and his temperament seemed to be lovely. The reserve [Rosscon Camille] was absolute elegance personified. I would have taken both of these hunting,” said Stirling, about her and Ruth McGovern’s choices.

Another eye-catching sight in the parade was Fintan Cosgrove’s three-year-old loose jumping winner Moonlight Magic (Moonlight Silver Shadow) with this sharp-eyed full-brother to Hannah’s Only Dun bounding over any manhole covers he found along the route.

The other loose jumping champion was Robert Fallon’s Cashelbay Annabelle, whose sire Cashelbay Rocket was another Clifden winner last week in the ridden stallion class. She will be retained for ridden and performance classes.

Last but not least in the parade was this year’s supreme champion Glencarrig Princess Katie, who stole the show 50 years after the Curran family’s first Clifden entry.