GALWAY’s Catriona Fallon celebrated big after winning the six and seven-year-old final, sponsored by Horse First, on Sunday afternoon at the Cavan Winter Horse Festival on Freddy Bear, a horse that she bred, produced and owns herself.

The duo saw off stiff competition from a 44-strong start list and provided the only double clear in a 15-way jump-off to capture the top-spot. By Celtic Hero B Z out of Deeply Dippy K, Fallon was clearly very proud of his first 1.30m win.

“I bred him myself. He won the four-year-olds at this show three years ago, so we’ve been tipping along with him since. He has the same dam as Frano Derwin’s Flexi K,” Fallon told The Irish Field.

“They are all ultra-careful out of that mare, and super brave. His sire, Celtic Hero, is a lovely horse and has been very good. There’s a six-year-old full-brother named Biden and there is another one out of that mare that jumped in Le Lion d’Angers for America.

“Freddy is a smashing little horse, I think half the country knows him. You’d want your wits about you when riding him. He’s on the ball. He gets on with it. I let them get their education in the ring, rather than out in the pocket.

“I’m going to jump the last of the development tour with him. They are great those development tour classes. They are more useful to me than the classes earlier in the year. He’ll either get sold or we’ll go on another year with him. He’s going to give it a shot. He’ll definitely be very competitive at 1.45m. It’s in the lap of the Gods after that. He’s careful and competitive and has a great brain.”

‘Small person’

Fallon added: “Everybody knows what I do, you’re right at the bottom the whole time just producing and then they go on to the next guy. The whole of the west was there at the weekend. The crowd just kept getting bigger and bigger, saying ‘Oh my God, the Bear is going to win it’. It was amazing.

“He was on Galway Bay FM and was in the parish newsletter this week. My mother said we are going to have two swollen heads and we won’t fit into the back of the lorry. It’s great for the small person. The Galway Blazers wanted him to lead off the hunt this week, but I said I think we’ll have to get a stand-in like the really famous people do!”

Shane Kenny rode his own seven-year-old German-bred mare Chacoon Cherry PS (Chacoon Blue x Robin II Z) into the runner-up spot, as the fastest four-faulter in 35.14. Kristina O’Neill’s six-year-old Coco Douglas (ARD VDL Douglas x Pacino) bred by Maria Griffin, was guided into third place, again in a fast time of 35.22.

Sven Hadley and his own Maximum Numero Too HSH (Aganix Du Seigneur x Numero Uno), bred by Eamon McArdle, finished in fourth, while Michael Kelleher’s Martello Chapella (Celtic Hero B Z x Indoctro), bred by John Kerr and ridden by Mark Cleary, were fifth. David O’Loughlin’s SVS Ashford Zodiac (Elvis Ter Putte x Je T’Aime Flamenco), bred by Brian Hutchinson with Shane Goggins in the tack, completed the line up in sixth.