NO Pink Flamingo back to defend her Coote Cup title, however the stinted mare class once again provided this year’s broodmare champion at Dublin.

It was a first-time title win for Pink Flamingo’s owner Dessie Gibson, following in the footsteps of his father’s five-time winner Maybe II.

Likewise, last Saturday’s result was a seventh time Coote Cup win for the Roche family from Foulksmills, the majority courtesy of their Assagart Kit and this year, John eventually cracked the Coote code with the homebred Assagart Fairytale.

The dark bay Coroner eight-year-old, out of the Flagmount King mare Assagart Sapphire, was judges Patricia Stirling and John Poole’s choice at the end of a marathon judging session.

The reserve broodmare champion from these Plusvital-sponsored classes was last year’s Dublin multi-tasking champion: Liam Lynskey’s DS Bounce With Me Baby. The nine-year-old Moylough Bouncer mare, bred in Ballaghaderreen by Brendan Duffy, missed out on defending her Irish Draught title and was instead switched to the opening middle/heavyweight mare class.

Lynskey’s excited buck leaps across the arena, when his name was announced as the winner, matched those of the mare’s Black Shadow foal whose antics entertained the early morning onlookers.

Michael Egan’s Oakfield Sweet Heart (Womanizer) made it a Mayo 1-2 and Paula Howard’s consistent prizewinner Dernahatten Out Of Touch (Bienamado) took third place from the 10 entries.

Richard Gildea’s Miss Cranny Lancelot has been knocking on the Dublin door and she too had her moment of glory in the lightweight mare class. Reserve in the recent Banner Broodmare championship, the Lancelot mare was bred in that county by Noel O’Shea.

Kief Queen B (Munther), champion here in 2018 for Yvonne Pearson, stood second and third place went to another of John Roche’s Coroner mares Assagart Faithful.

The judges selected an eclectic trio of foal class winners, ranging from John Roche’s very mature colt Assagart Legacy, by his own Irish Draught stallion Assagart All For One, to Pat Finn’s young Chelis HC Z filly, a three-parts sister to his yearling champion the previous day. Mary and Michael Dooner’s traditionally-bred Shadow Man (Shadow Gate) out of their Irish Draught mare Vanity Fare won the thoroughbred-sired foal class.

In the final class, Assagart Fairytale was called forward from randomly-formed lines as the stinted mare winner. In second was Nenagh exhibitor Adrian Shoer’s PLS Cornet’s Juliet (Ulysses M2S) and Hurst Show Horses’ Tattygare Me Me Me (Arkan) placed third.

With no foal championship between the three winners, Saturday’s sole title from the seven classes was the broodmare crown, duly won by Assagart Fairytale and with DS Bounce With Me Baby called forward as reserve.

“I’ve been reserve four times so it was nice to finally win it,” said Roche, who had a busy Saturday evening shuttling mares home down the M11.

“There was a really nice bunch of mares and we had to nitpick because you don’t get the same standard in England by a long, long way,” Patricia Stirling commented afterwards.

“We pulled them in any order as we just had to get the classes going with the time factor. They [stewards] were push, push, push the whole time for time so they [prize winners] could come up from any end.

“It was liquorice allsorts really,” she added about their foal line-ups, ranging from warmbloods to part-Connemara bloodlines. “You just found the one you liked.”