DONEGAL loosened some of Connacht’s grip on Dublin’s Irish Draught classes, when Castleview Lady Georgina and Gweebarra Realta provided a northwest double in last Thursday’s mare championship.

The opening young mare class attracted 16 entries, three more than in 2023, and saw young Paul Bohan win another Dublin class with his father Padraig’s home-bred three-year-old Gortfadda Diamonds (Inisfree The Iron Cross).

Second was Sean Ruane’s Strictly’s Dancer (Knockaleery Dancer), out of his dual Dublin champion mare Strictly Come Bouncing and third place went to Shelley Barling Bridges’ Skehana Inisfree Lady, by another Eddie Murphy-bred stallion in Inisfree The Holy Grail.

Dublin’s quite unique coupling of UK and continental judges for its Draught classes continued this year, with Jane Hall and Marc Hahne on duty. Their champion and reserve came from the following five-year-old and over mare class, which had 19 entries.

The winner was Valerie Davis’s Castleview Lady Georgina. “We just bought her in March this year from [breeder] Kenny and Wendy Bell,” explained her Ballybofey owner. “It was a quick decision to take her to Balmoral, where she was champion. I was encouraged by so many people to take her to Dublin and it did pay off.”

It was a first-time win in the Draught mare class for Davis, although the second-placed mare: Enda Hamill and Charmaine Kee’s Gweebarra Realta already has Dublin form, having won here as a foal in 2018.

The yellow ribbon went to the third six-year-old in the top-three: Louise Shaughnessy’s Crusheen Luna (Tors Gentleman Farmer) and fourth was the Bell’s own Castleview Farmers Lady, a three-parts sister to the winner.

In the championship, it was the top-two from the older mare class that were pulled forward. “Our champion and reserve champion mares were real quality,” said Hall, an avid Draught fan. “For me, there will never be a better cross to produce a brave, all-round, courageous horse that will be going out five, six days a week than the Irish Draught. I had a very nice co-judge, we got on very well and I thoroughly enjoyed the day.”

Castleview Lady Georgina is by the breeder’s own Class 1 stallion Castleview Inisfree Farmer and out of the Coolcronan Wood mare, Castleview Princess, while the reserve is by Millhollow Real MacCoy and out of Dreamtime Mayfie, by Blue Rajah.

Kenny Bell, who bred the champion mare and won the colt foal class with a Moylough Supremacy foal out of Castleview Farmers Lady, shown by Danielle Conaghan \ Susan Finnerty

Foal champion

There was a break, during which the three-year-old classes were judged, which meant few spectators for the evening foal classes at the end of ‘Draught Day’.

Kenny and Wendy Bell had their day too, as Castleview Farmers Lady’s colt foal won his class, setting up the first part of a double for his sire Moylough Supremacy, who was to win the stallion class the following day.

Second was another Donegal exhibitor in Jim McNulty’s Edenagor Mick (King Elvis I), ahead of Louise Shaughnessy’s Crusheen Stormy (Tors Gentleman Farmer).

No part-bred Draught foal entries this year and the foal champion came from the closing filly class: Gerry Ferguson’s winner, Oxview Ruby. Second was the champion mare’s Moylough Supremacy filly and in third was Michael Hoare’s Moylough Harper (Clogheen Life Of Reilly). Some Draught foal entries - the Equipe app was more reliable - and the list of previous winners were missing from the catalogue.

Gerry Ferguson continues the Mayo run in the Dublin Irish Draught foal championship with his Oxview Ruby \ Susan Finnerty

That latter handy reference guide would have showed that Dominic Cassidy had won the 2022 and 2023 foal championships. Ferguson, from Foxford, made it a Mayo treble when his Oxview Ruby won the foal championship, ahead of Bell’s colt.

Her Harkaway Lionhawk dam My Rosie is from another of Eddie Murphy’s mare families. “My father bred Draughts for the past 40, 50 years. The foal is by Inisfree The Holy Grail, so it’s all Eddie’s breeding,” said Ferguson.