OWNER/breeder Daphne Tierney and producer/rider Jane Bradbury narrowly lost out on a supreme championship double at last year’s Dublin Horse Show but, undeterred, the Co Wicklow duo will bid to achieve the feat next week.

Twelve months ago, Tierney was presented with the Laidlaw Cup on the Friday morning when Michael Lyons showed her three-year-old lightweight gelding, Bloomfield Watergate, to claim the overall youngstock title. That afternoon, the bay was crowned champion home-bred exhibit with his delighted owner being presented with the Pembroke cup.

Without a title sponsor, next week’s youngstock section is again being supported by Horse Sport Ireland and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The classes will be judged by Britain’s Richard Ramsay, as was published in the competition schedule, but leading British racehorse trainer Sir Mark Prescott is a non-runner with his role as judge being assigned to French sport horse breeder, Bernard Le Courtois.

The Tierney/Bradbury team have two young horses heading to the Dublin 4 showgrounds, Bloomfield Silverado and Bloomfield Waterville, who are both entered in the three-year-old lightweight geldings class which will be judged in Ring 1 on Thursday afternoon.

Lyons will show the OBOS Quality 004 grey Bloomfield Silverado who was placed second at Gorey on his only outing last season and filled the same position at Balmoral in May. Last month he was young horse champion at the Tattersalls July Show. He was bred in Co Tipperary by Jim Seymour and is a full-brother to, among others, the bay heavyweight Bloomfield Distinction on whom Bradbury occupied the reserve spot in the supreme hunter championship last August.

Bradbury will show Bloomfield Waterville, a traditionally-bred bay from the second Irish crop of the thoroughbred stallion Lucarelli.

Champion at Adamstown on his only outing to date, this fellow was purchased last year from Co Wexford’s M.J. Kavanagh who bred him out of the Watermill Swatch mare AFS Grace Kelly.

The aforementioned Bloomfield Watergate is being produced under saddle by Bradbury but for Brendan Furlong. Therefore, when it was announced that the New Jersey-based Wexford-born veterinary surgeon was judging last month’s All-Ireland three-year-old championship at Bannow and Rathangan with Edmund Vaughan, Tierney and Bradbury decided they couldn’t defend the title they had won with that gelding last year.

Tough opposition

Without the Bloomfield pair, 13 horses vied for championship honours and it was leading North of Ireland show horse producer Dessie Gibson who took the title with his Cormint gelding Sort Code. Bred in Co Meath by Hazel Bye, the bay is out of the Coevers Diamond Boy mare Coevers Silver Lady.

Gibson will also show a two-year-old lightweight gelding by Vittorio, who he bred himself out of his Ghareeb mare Ballycapple Blackbird, and the Imforafraid Fortuna yearling gelding Spot Light who was crowned youngstock champion at Balmoral in May. While Bradbury and Lyons have sorted out who will show the Bloomfield horses, it will be interesting to see who will take the place of Gibson’s right-hand man David Alcorn who is heading to New Zealand rather than Dublin.

Of course, despite the fact that numbers were rumoured to be well down this year in led classes, there are plenty of other owners keen to show their stock next week including John and Julia Crosbie with their home-bred all-Ireland three-year-old filly winner, Memory Lane (by Island Commander).

The Shark Hanlon-trained Hewick, a son of Virtual, wasn’t able to defend his Galway Plate title on Wednesday, running off top-weight on less than ideal underfoot conditions.

Next week another gelding by the same Pivotal stallion, OTG Killaloe, will bid to defend his title as the champion traditionally-bred young horse at Dublin where last August he was also reserve champion two-year-old. The bay is still being produced by John Mulconroy but for new owners, James and Georgia Keogh.