THE Curran family’s Glencarrig Stud picked up the Kellythorpes Leading Connemara Breeder Award at this week’s Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) in Bermingham, UK.
The award crowns a momentous season in the show ring for bothers Ciaran and Gearoid Curran, who share the prefix at their Moycullen yards. The duo were at the NEC Arena on Thursday night to collect the award, which was earned based on results during the HOYS qualifying season.
Glencarrig Stud had two ponies forward for Wednesday morning’s Baileys Horse Feeds Mountain and Moorland Ridden Connemara Pony of the Year, where Glencarrig Rocco (Glencarrig Prince-Mountross Colleen) was best of those in fourth place, ridden by Leon King, ahead of Glencarrig Marble (Janus – Coosheen Breeze) and Samantha Fowler in ninth.
Ciaran Curran was honoured to collect the award, which he was informed of by letter last week. “It means everything,” Ciaran told The Irish Field on Friday morning after landing back in Ireland.
“We were going to give it a miss this year but it isn’t every day you get an award like this. It was lovely to get it after an unreal year in the ring, we couldn’t have had better.”
The pinnacle of the showing season for the Curran family came in Clifden on the third Thursday of August, when Gearoid exhibited his daughter Katie’s four-year-old mare Glencarrig Princess Katie to win the Supreme Championship.
The mare, who was junior champion in 2018, was unbeaten throughout the 2019 season and will have a foal next spring. The family last won the Clifden championship in 2014 with the mare’s sire, the prolific Glencarrig Knight.
Winners
The winner of Wednesday’s Connemara ridden class was Vicki Casey’s Frederiksminde Volcano (Lissroe Hurricane x Frederiksminde Christel), who was bred by Gunner Andersen and the late Henry Kelly.
Robbie Fallon was once again the breeder of a HOYS winner on Friday morning when Cashel Bay JJ won for an incredible sixth time at the venue. Fallon’s home-bred by Castleside JJ is owned by Polly Eddis and was ridden to win the Snuggy Hoods 153cm Working Hunter Pony of the Year class by Susie Eddis.
Among the Irish Sport Horses to take big wins in the main arena was the five-year-old gelding Heads Up. Bred by show jumper Paul O’Shea, who is on the Irish team in Barcelona this weekend, the OBOS Quality-sired gelding, who is destined for a career in eventing, won the Cuddy Working Hunter of the Year Championship under Hayden Hankey.
Full reports from HOYS in next week’s paper.