FOR the second year in-a-row, the five/six year-old Irish Breeders’ Classic final went the way of Ballyshan BF Super Hero, this year ridden by Jason Foley who was winning the class for the first time. The class is one of the highlights of the calendar for young horses and, with €45,000 on offer, 28 combinations qualified to jump in Sunday’s final at Barnadown in Co Wexford.

Ballyshan BF Super Hero won the competition 12 months ago as a five-year-old and becomes the first horse to win twice. Ridden then by Ger O’Neill, he was since sold to Abdullah Waleed Al Sharbatly and stayed with Castlefield Sport Horses to compete this year. Bred by Gary Doherty, the gelding is by Celtic Hero B Z out of the Lux Z mare Ballyshan Luximportant.

He was originally purchased as a three-year-old by Martin Egan and produced at Castlefield. This result comes off the back of the Dublin Horse Show where they won the first competition and the pair have been selected for the WBFSH World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken later this month. Foley also filled second place with the five-year-old mare Castlefield Notouch.

Speaking after the win, Foley said: “Ballyshan BF Super Hero is a brilliant part of our team, he is just so consistent. He has always been in the shake up in every final since he won the Irish Breeders’ Classic five-year-olds last year.

“Ger (O’Neill) and Martin Egan sold him in the Brilliance Horse Auction at the back end of last year and he was bought by Abdullah Waleed Al Sharbatly who decided to send him back to us to produce further. He’s quite easy to do anything with. He’s a great character, he’s lively in his way of going and that’s what makes him competitive.

“He’s very experienced for his age, it’s like riding an older horse. He’s the main competitor when you ride him. He’s so well educated that in his own head he’s older than he is. He is superbly balanced. He is selected for Team Ireland for Lanaken this year. He was third there last year so we will hope to go up a couple of places this year.”

On the jump-off, Foley added: “I didn’t actually get to see anybody go before me, but know this class and every year you know it’s going to be competitive and it’s never going to be won too easy, so I just said that I would go in and I give it a good crack with the first one [Castlefield Notouch]. She dealt with it all super and everything came up so smoothly.

“The winner is in the shake up in every class, he is so competitive and you can trust him against the clock. I knew he would have to put in a good round to beat the mare. He is more experienced and he has a lot of mileage. It was an amazing result to finish first and second.”

Future star

Speaking about the runner-up, Foley commented: “Castlefield Notouch is a super mare with a bright future. She is home-bred by Jim O’Neill. It was a little bit of a surprise that she did so well, not that we thought she wouldn’t be able to handle it but just because she was so green.

“She hasn’t done that many shows, we just decided to bring her to the IBC because she’s going to Lanaken and we thought she could do with a bit more experience here to see where we were at. I thought she handled it really well. She was very mature for a horse that has done very little. We were delighted with her. We always knew she was talented so we weren’t in too much of a hurry with her. She’ll go to Lanaken now and I think she’ll have a good shot.

“Next we are heading to Warsaw for the senior Nations Cup show there this week. I’m bringing Jacksonville Eurohill who is quite a new horse for me. I haven’t competed so much with him. I’m looking forward to it, hopefully we can do well and win the final of the Nations Cup league.

“After that we have a full week at home, and then head to Lanaken with the youngsters. Following that we will probably head to Spain for three weeks in October with some of the older horses and then come back home until the spring.”

Jump-off

Out of the original starters, 14 booked their place against the clock, and from those nine delivered double clears. Fourth to go with Castlefield Notouch, Foley set the standard in a time of 37.20 seconds which would eventually be good enough for the runner-up spot.

Owned and bred by Castlefield Breeding Farm, the mare is by Untouchable 27 out of the Baloubet du Rouet-sired U-Sprit. The combination impressed earlier in the week by winning the second qualifier. The mare was previously campaigned by Dylan Savage.

Knowing what he needed to do on his second horse, Foley shaved 0.36 of a second off his earlier time, breaking the beams in 36.82 and taking over the lead and was never beaten, taking home a lucrative combined prize fund of €23,700.

A clear from Robyn Moran and the five-year-old Fortside Obsession in 39.37 saw them take third place. Owned by Fortside Farms and bred by Padraig Arthur, the mare is by Sligo Candy Boy out of Lux A Gonner (Lux Z).

This combination were in action at the Dublin Horse Show last month and had a single pole down in the first two competitions.

Vincent Byrne accounted for fourth place with the six-year-old Gone Girl VB when they came home clear in a time of 40.14. Bred by Vincent’s mother Eleanor and owned by LMG Enterprises, the mare is by Emerald Van’t Ruytershof out of the Cobra mare Bellisimo. Another who has recently competed in Dublin, this pair have been selected as part of the Irish squad for the World Breeding Championships in Lanaken.

Eddie Moloney took fifth place with the five-year-old He is Ace, when they crossed the line in 41.72. Owned and bred by Lauren McHugh, the gelding is by Emerald Van’t Ruytershof out of the Shannon Dale Y2k-sired Kyle Sparkle. Along with qualifying for the Dublin Horse Show, this pair have picked up a series of good placings in the DAFM classes.

Completing the top six was Shane O’Reilly and the six-year-old BWE Windsor, when clear in 41.88. Showing the calibre this class attracts, this pair are another who were in action at the Dublin Horse Show and in the DAFM age classes this summer.