THE first qualifier for the Balmoral Star of the Future performance horse championships, which are restricted to Irish-bred horses with fully-identifying passports, takes place on Saturday, March 2nd, at The Meadows Equestrian Centre, outside Lurgan.

The other four dates and venues are: Sunday, March 17th at Hazeldene Farm; Wednesday, March 20th at Wexford Equestrian; Saturday, March 30th at Gransha Equestrian; and Sunday, April 7th at Lusk Equestrian Centre.

Last year’s champions, Richard Ames’ KIEF Rhapsody (five-year-old) and Jane Allen-Collins’ Lougherne Casanova (six and seven-year-old) qualified at Wexford Equestrian and The Meadows respectively.

Three horse/rider combinations may qualify in each class at each qualifier. Only the horse/rider combination that qualify will be allowed compete in the championships at Balmoral Show (May 15th to 18th), where riders will be restricted to two horses per class. The judges for the other qualifiers have yet to be confirmed, but Caroline Bjoerk will be assessing the horses forward at The Meadows and Lusk Equestrian, while Comdt John Ledingham has accepted an invitation to judge the finals in the Main Arena at Balmoral on Friday, May 17th.

Further details can be found now on the Balmoral Show website, where the full schedule will be available on Monday, February 12th. Entries for the bulk of the show’s classes open on Wednesday, February 21st and close on Wednesday, March 20th.