IT was a complete fluke shot, but the photograph of John Roche’s reaction when his number was announced as the winner last year captured the sheer elation felt by any winner of The Irish Field Breeders Championship.

Fast forward 12 months and all has changed utterly for the 2015 final, with all of last year’s top eight mares absent from this year’s wide-open championship.

“Breeding top class horses is what we all strive for and this competition encourages this. The Irish Field has supported the Breeders’ Championship now for a number of years and the sponsorship is a great fit,” said editor Leo Powell, explaining the newspaper’s renewed sponsorship of the coveted title.

The judges for next Friday’s final, which takes place in Ring 1 at 11.40am, are Fred van Straaten and Eigbert Schep. Having European judges benchmark the rapidly-changing face of Irish sport horse breeding is an interesting concept.

And while bloodlines change, the RDS has confirmed that the traditional ‘Dublin’ showring attire continues as the correct dress code.

This year’s catalogue will show a mix of continental and traditional lines amongst the 18 contenders, which, in catalogue order, begins with veteran exhibitor J.J. Bowe, who has shown horses at Dublin since 1955. He qualified at the hotly-contested Bannow & Rathangan qualifier with his 11-year-old Ghareeb’s Porter, whose grandam Sky Polly was a two-time Breeders Championship reserve.

This homebred line goes back to the nine-time Croker Cup champion Poly Glide and her pedigree also includes Kiltealy Stud household names such as Ghareeb, the Croker Cup champion Sky Boy and several three-star eventers. Bowe’s current thoroughbred sire Dilshaan is the sire of Ghareeb’s Porter’s colt foal.

Stephen Culliney is the first of the Banner County hopefuls and qualified for the third time at Galway County Show with Kilkeany Mystic. First spotted by Culliney in the All Ireland yearling filly final at Scariff, she is by Ghareeb, the most-represented sire this year. With her Kings Master filly foal, the Clare pair are the second of eight traditionally-bred combinations in the championship.

Richard Drohan’s long trek from Carrick-on-Suir to Galway County Show paid off when he qualified another traditionally-bred combination. Lucy’s Princess, by the Croker Cup champion Power Blade, makes her second Breeders Championship appearance and is related to German event rider Anna Warnecke’s Laura’s Ghareeb. The six-year-old has a filly foal at foot from Robin De La Maison’s final crop.

KieranFaheyqualified at the new Cork Summer Show venue with his Madame Noir, who with her Kings Master, Ricardo Z and Furisto pedigree, has a mixture of Irish and European bloodlines. Another consistent prizewinner, her colt foal is by the southern hemisphere import, Barely A Moment seen in last year’s thoroughbred stallion parade at Dublin.

Back to Ballybrit, where the biggest smile of the day belonged to showing newcomer Mark Folan. He qualified for the Breeders Championship at his first attempt with the 12-year-old Touchdown-thoroughbred cross mare Milchem Touch and her OBOS Quality filly. She competed up to 1.30m level, mainly with her amateur owner and her breeder Pascal Carbin’s daughter, Shauna.

HELPING HAND

He may be relying on his band of helpers as he recovers from a broken pelvis but Dessie Gibson is guaranteed to be at the ringside to watch Ballycapple Blackbird and her Nazar colt foal. Gibson’s sole Breeders Championship victory was in 2006 courtesy of Hillsides Amazing Grace and her Top Of The World colt.

Paula Howard is another frequent finalist and was represented last year by the Coevers Diamond Boy mare, Mary Rose. He also appears as the damsire of her Slatequarry Sasha, who qualified alongside another Ghareeb mare Ballycapple Blackbird at Omagh. A winner at Balmoral back in May, her filly foal Timpany Ruby is by the eventing stallion Centrestage.

P.J. Lehane will be hoping his PJ’s Dream lives up to her name when the four-year-old pays another visit to Ring 1. She was here as a foal finalist with her Big Sink Hope dam and has been a consistent All Ireland and Dublin winner since. Lehane’s Cufflink is the Lux Z mare’s first foal and is by the Croker Cup contender Munther.

Another traditional combination is Ronnie McCoombe’s My Lisnagade, bred by John Donaghy, the owner of last year’s Dublin young horse champion, Northern Image. By Emperor Augustus, her damsire Big Sink Hope produced a number of winning mares, including Assagart My Only Hope. Frankfort Princess, her filly foal, is from the final crop of the late five-star rated event sire Frankfort Boy.

Black Tie returns for one more Ring 1 outing, after a successful show hunter career and last year’s Breeders Championship appearance. Kate McMahon’s eight-year-old Silvano mare qualified again at Athlone and has another colt foal at foot this year by Ard Ginger Pop’s sire, the Dutch-bred Luidam.

The hallowed West Cork eventing bloodlines of Abdullah and Edmund Burke are seen in the second of the Cork Summer Show representatives, Gortnamona Ruby. James O’Donovan’s nine-year-old produced a colt foal this year by the resident thoroughbred sire Craigsteel.

Kieran O’Gorman’s hopes of repeating his 2010 win lie with Brookfield Miss Lux, the second of Lux Z’s West Cork contenders and a daughter of his winning Cavalier Royale mare five years ago. She qualified on home ground at Clonakilty with Munthers Bash, by O’Gorman’s own stallion.

Three generations of continental breeding are seen in Dermot O’Sullivan’s Je T’aime Flamenco, Aidensfield Flamenco. O’ Sullivan, who sold last year’s winning mare to Roche months before the final, bought his latest hope from breeder Marion Hughes in February and the five-year-old, related to a number of useful performers including HHS Charmer, has an OBOS Quality colt at foot.

A busy Derry Rothwell had three combinations qualifying at Clonakilty, Cork and Omagh. These include the seven-year-old Limmerick mare, Greenhall Indicator with Greenhall Dictator, her Querleybet Hero colt, plus the homebred half-sisters Greenhall Diamond Lady and Millenium Cruise.

Now a 17-year-old, Millenium Cruise is the only former winning mare qualified and she produced Greenhall Ars Bibendi, an Ars Vivendi filly in March. Her half-sister Greenhall Diamond Lady is also out of the Tinahely family’s prolific champion Greenhall Cailin Deas and the seven-year-old Colin Diamond mare returns to Dublin with Greenhall Coin Collection, by the Croker Cup winner Financial Reward.

Dunelight is the fourth ‘in-house’ sire represented in this year’s final as he produced Jane Scully’s Limbo Cracker, which qualified at Clonakilty with his dam Limbo Cindy. This 10-year-old mare is by the Clover Hill descendant Limbo Hill and out of a Cavalier Royale mare. This brings the number of West Cork exhibitors in the final to five, while Wicklow is also well-represented, including Patrick Wafer.

The Carnew breeder won the 1990 final with his Atlantic Boy mare Parkmore Jewel, (the grandam of William Fox-Pitt’s Hong Kong Olympics eventer Parkmore Ed) and her Kildalton Gold filly, the US export, Parkmore Chance. His latest challenger is Parkmore Evita, similarly bred to Kilkeany Mystic as both are by Ghareeb out of Coolcorran Cool Diamond dams. Wafer’s five-year-old has Parkmore La Vie, another Robin De La Maison filly, at foot.

QUOTES

“Leaving the ring, I thought I have to go one better next year”

- Dermot O’Sullivan, who led John Roche’s 2014 winning foal

“It always amazes me that come rain, hail or sunshine the ringside is packed three and four deep for the judging, reflecting the huge interest in the championship. This is the prize every breeder wants to win and the roll of honour of past winners demonstrates more than anything the quality of the competition. I am certain this year will be no different”

- Leo Powell, Editor, The Irish Field

“Best of luck to all this year’s finalists”

- John Roche.