WITH just two weeks to go before the FEI World Breeding Championships in Lanaken, Ger O’Neill and Columbcille Gipsy got the perfect send off when crowned Irish Breeders Classic five and six year-old champions last Sunday.

Along with the title, O’Neill took home a healthy €9,000 share of the €33,000 prize fund on offer.

Speaking after the win O’Neill said: “I am delighted with the win and for Eamonn Murphy as he got to see her win today. He has not been able to attend a lot of the shows lately and he definitely brought me luck.

“She is a mare with a plenty of scope and hopefully this will set us up for Lanaken. I would like to commend Ronan Rothwell for running this great event as it helps producers and breeders.

“Maurice Cousins did an excellent job on the grounds and Tom Holden’s courses were very fitting for this high level of competition. Quite a few volunteers and industry leaders all support this event and I would like to thank them for coming on board.”

Now in its sixth year, the Irish Breeders Classic has gained international recognition as being the showcase of up and coming Irish horses.

Speaking about its role in producing horses for the top level, organiser Ronan Rothwell said: “The idea behind the Irish Breeders Classic was not to mirror any young horse series that was taking place in Ireland, but to complement what was going on and the standard in Europe.

“Horses that have done well in the Irish Breeders Classic and have gone on to deliver the results in Lanaken and hopefully this will be the case this year. Ger O’Neill has produced many rising stars over the years and he has voluntarily helped to make the event a success.

“Likewise, Eamonn Murphy has bred a lot of horses and has contributed greatly to the sport. It is great that he had the win and I wish them all the best in Lanaken.”

TOP COMPETITION

On Sunday, 25 qualified combinations took to the arena to contest the Irish Breeders Classic Grand Final and from those nine delivered clears and progressed to the jump-off.

Of the nine, four were five-year-olds and five were six-year-olds.

Mikey Pender secured two places in the jump-off and was first to test the Tom Holden course with the first five-year old, Marion Hughes’ home-bred HHS Catwalk. The Kildare rider was out of luck when faulting at the penultimate fence and crossed the line in 35.76 for seventh place.

Second to go, Sophie Richards and MHS Fernhill set the target when they delivered a clear in 36.90. Bred by the late Ita Brennan and now owned by Carol Gee, the mare would later finish as the top-placed five year-old when slotting into third place.

Richards, who was double handed in the jump-off, had an unlucky four faults at the double with her second mount, the Maurice Cousins-owned and bred mare Be The One, finishing in a time of 39.54 for eighth place.

Liam O’Meara and Could Be Anything fell victim to fence 15 and their time of 39.91 saw them take ninth place.

With the first of the six-year olds, HHS Fortune, Pender returned but faulted at the second oxer in 35.54 to finish fifth.

Riding Deirdre Bourns’s Sea Topblue, Jenny Rankin delivered the next clear with the James and John Meade-bred six-year-old gelding in a time of 37.79, which would later see her take fourth place.

The lead changed hands when Jack Brennan’s calculated riding with the six-year-old Cardento mare MHS Jersey Girl saw him stop the clock in 35.01 seconds. Bred in Kilkenny by her owner Sinead Byrne, the mare has been consistently placed in the Irish Sport Horse Studbook classes.

Tim MacDonagh and the Clare Hughes-bred Hollypark Boom Boom also had an unlucky four faults at the second oxer for eventual sixth.

Last to go, all eyes were on Ger O’Neill and Columbcille Gipsy. No stranger to this pressure, he first made up the time in the turn back from the vertical at 15 to 16. A rattle at the double caused no concern for O’Neill and a tight line to the penultimate saw him up on target as he crossed the line in 33.73 to take the class.

Columbcille Gipsy, who was born by embryo transfer, is a six-year-old mare by Toulon out of Gipsy III.

Murphy and O’Neill also have Columbcille Gipsy’s two-year-old full-sister Columbcille Modell, and Gipsy III has been crossed with the O’Neill-ridden Dondoctro Ryal K.

Murphy also took home the breeder’s prize of €1,000, sponsored by HSI, and a Luidam nomination sponsored by Euro Stallions.