THE Irish Draught gelding Peaky Blinder, who is ridden for Pat Loughlin and his sister Pearl O’Rourke by Brian Murphy, will be bidding to again win the maxi cob class in Ring 2 at the Dublin Horse Show late next Friday afternoon, having just failed to bring up a hat- trick in 2019.

The now 10-year-old grey son of Rockrimmon Silver Diamond, who was reserve champion in 2017 before taking the title a year later, won the Cob Championship at Balmoral last September but, in May, stood second in his class to the Ann Regan-owned and ridden Cobability Brown.

That 11-year-old brown gelding went on to be reserve champion behind the lightweight class winner, Gold Nugget, who is owned in partnership by rider Amory McMahon and her mother Kate who bred the nine-year-old Rocky McGuire gelding.

The Cob Championship at the Tattersalls Ireland July Show was won by the four-year-old Foxtrot who is being produced for English owner Millie Bowlby by P.J. Casey. In the up to 155cms class, the chesnut topped the final line-up ahead of the Murphy-ridden Goodnight Master, a similarly-aged grey gelding, and Gold Nugget. In the title decider, the Casey-ridden chesnut was crowned champion with Peaky Blinder, winner of the over 155cms class, standing reserve.

At the 2019 Dublin Horse Show, Casey won the lightweight class on the Kinsellas’ home-bred Toberpatrick Boss but that then six-year-old Ballybrack Diamond gelding was overlooked in the championship as the judges selected the maxi class winner, Jodie Moran’s De Kobdashian, as their champion with K&K Cobs and Horses’ heavyweight winner, Westend Willie, as reserve.

Coloured horse class

The Cob Championship will be followed by the sole coloured horse class just before 6pm. Should he be listed in the entries, the 14-year-old skewbald gelding Sir Dollar, who won at Balmoral under his Co Waterford owner Alanna Popa, would have to be one of the favourites to take the title.

Three years ago, this class at Dublin went the way of the six-year-old skewbald mare SBS Touch Of Class who was exhibited by her breeders, Sharon and Brian Hallahan who are also based in Co Waterford. This season they have been enjoying the performance of their SBS Da Vinci’s Masterpiece who is another six-year-old mare by the same sire, SBS Da Vinci, but out of the Dail Eireann mare, The Masters Mistress.