IT was a double of doubles in the Irish Field Breeders’ Championship yesterday, when John McDonnell and Paula Howard won the show jumping and eventing sections of the 2024 final.

Last year, it was John’s brother Des who showed the winning mare, Emme, for owner Bridget Devanney in the show jumping section; that win encouraged John to enter his own mare CBI Ice Queen and her Vancouver filly foal, Nice Queen, in the Athlone qualifier; they qualified and then won yesterday’s final at their Crossmolina owner’s first attempt in this championship.

Bred by Aidan Carroll, CBI Ice Queen is by Baltic VDL. The reserve champion was another of this year’s Breeders’ Championship newcomers in Sinead Fenton’s Galway Bay Amele.

From Athlone, her local show proved the lucky qualifier this year, as both the show jumping champion and reserve qualified in June at the midlands show. By Mermus R, Galway Bay Amele’s filly foal is by Allroad 2000 Z.

There was a 100% turnout of eight combinations in each section and, in the following eventing final, it was a repeat win for Paula Howard. She was the winning owner in 2016, when her Slatequarry Sasha (Ghareeb) won that year with a Greenan Fort colt and enters the Breeders’ Championship roll of honour of dual winners.

Howard’s Way: Paula Howard won a second Breeders' Championship, this year in the eventing section with her Dernahatten Out Of Touch and Timpany Northern Lights, shown by Keva Milligan. Also pictured are IHW editor Judith Faherty, with judges Jacques Verkerk and Marc Hahne \ Susan Finnerty

This year, it was her Bienamado mare Dernahatten Out Of Touch, bred in Co Monaghan by Padraig McKernan, and her flashy colt foal, Timpany Northern Lights by Sir Lando, that stayed top of the eventing section prize winners.

The winning combination were shown, as usual, by Paula’s right-hand showman, Davy Lyons and Keva Milligan, making her Dublin showring debut.

It was a second Horse Show Week win for Paula, as her Nicholas Cousins-bred Tullabeg Hello (Hiello), the Balmoral young horse champion, won the three-year-old filly class on the previous day.

The eventing reserve champion was Danielle Cusack’s Ballydurn Taylor and Brittas Monte Cristo. The dam was bred by James Teague in Co Leitrim and is by the 2004 Croker Cup champion Spirit House, while the foal, by the family’s own traditionally-bred sport horse stallion Clonaslee Captain Cristo, was the All-Ireland colt foal champion at Clarecastle last Sunday.

“That’s a really nice show with a lot of good horses,” remarked Marc Hahne, from northern Germany, while his Dutch co-judge Jacques Verkerk saw a distinct difference between the types in the two sections. “In this class, you see more Irish in the mares and the foals were mostly by thoroughbreds and in the jumper foals, you see more European pedigrees.”

Full report in next week’s issue.