RIDER Shane Quinn secured a lifetime ambition in the recent Millstreet National Discovery Four-Year-Old Final when he emerged victorious with Colm and Cathy Cuffe’s talented Dutch Warmblood grey mare Izzy, against stiff competition.

In front of a capacity Millstreet crowd and an estimated online audience of over 4,500 following the action on the ClipMyHorse.tv website, the Mayo rider impressed the judges with the I’m Special de Muze mare who is out of a Larino mare.

Having placed fourth in the two preliminary qualifiers during the week at the 2017 Millstreet Horse Show, connections were hopeful of a good performance on the deciding night where marks were awarded for conformation, movement, canter, natural rhythm, scope, temperament and overall impression.

Judges and regular Millstreet visitors Mike Florence and Rowland Ferneyhough rated the mare highly and awarded an overall mark of 101 points out of a maximum 110. This included a maximum mark for overall impression and nine out of 10 for temperament.

Prior to Millstreet, Izzy and Shane were placed in the Four-Year-Old RDS Qualifiers at Maryville and The Meadows and, earlier this summer, they finished second in the Cavan Four-Year-Old Championship Final.

Catriona Redmond’s Imerald slotted into second place on 98 marks, while third place was shared by Ivor Broderick’s Indigo VDL (Paul Lynch) and Dessie Judge’s Lux a Special Lady (Jessica Burke) who each scored 97 marks out of a possible 120.