THE penultimate qualifier for the performance Irish Draught, the Connemara performance hunter and the majority of the ridden Connemara classes at the Dublin Horse Show was staged last Saturday at James O’Connor’s Forth Mountain Stud, where the judges were sisters Jenny and Gina McCann (flatwork), Janet Kelly (jump) and Marian Condren (flat Connemara classes).

Wexford owners and riders won both sections of the six-year-old and upwards Irish Draught class, starting with Enniscorthy’s J.J. Bowe and his daughter Correna, who landed Section A with Patrickswell Sherry (235 points). Partnered by Bowe junior, this 2018 son of Cappa Amadeus finished sixth in the younger final last August and second in the same class 12 months previously.

The grey, who had already qualified for the Junior/Young Rider event horse class at Dublin, was bred in Co Mayo by Noel Sheridan out of the Castana mare, Springvale Countess.

Sean Looney, another regular competitor in these classes, bagged the second ticket on offer here, when filling the runner-up spot with Michael Moylan’s Savannah Herself (231.5) who, too, will be returning to Dublin, where she finished second in the older ID final last year. Bred in Co Galway by David and Ann O’Reilly, this seven-year-old grey mare by Castlegar Fin Grove is out of Kilardee Hazel (by Creggan Emperor).

Section B

The Section B winner was Ann Lambert’s Ashfield Bouncer, who also landed a section of the Intro Intermediate class at a Connolly’s Red Mills/Irish Pony Club eventing qualifier with Jess Murphy late last month.

On Saturday, Ashfield Bouncer and Murphy claimed the sole ticket on offer in Section B, as they comfortably topped the final leaderboard on 248 points, ahead of the already-qualified Sleehaun Master Mind (237.5), who was ridden by Diarmuid Ryan for owner/breeder Gerry Whyte.

The winning six-year-old grey stallion by Killinick Bouncer, who was bred in Co Dublin by Greg Conway out of Derrane Lady, by Ard Grandpa, has first crop two-year-olds.

Two tickets were awarded in Section A of the four and five-year-old ID class, the first going to the winner Hollypark Cass (236.5), who was ridden by Co Galway’s Tim MacDonagh for Hollypark Horses, breeders of the 2020 gelding. The grey is by Casnova out of the Glidawn Diamond mare Haslemere Queen, who has been bred exclusively to ID stallions since 2005.

Fingal Harriers’ whipper-in Darren ‘Swifty’ Jordan claimed the second ticket on his own Seanchai (235), a Gortfree Hero gelding, who won the four-year-old working hunter class at Balmoral and has been knocking on the door since the start of qualification.

Bred by Samantha Fitzsimons and Niamh Grimes, who are great supporters and promoters of the breed, the winner, Carrafarm Constellations (237.5), was the only qualifier out of Section B, where she was ridden by Co Westmeath’s Sarah Maxwell for her father Laurence.

Fifth in the younger horse final last August, the five-year-old is by Lionwood Kinsales Lad out of A Sky Full Of Stars, by Star Kingdom.

Two days before this success, the Maxwells were celebrating following the win of the Karl Burke-trained, US-bred Shareholder in the Norfolk Stakes, a five-furlong Group 2 race for two-year-olds, at Royal Ascot.

The son of Not This Time had been broken at their Multyfarnham yard prior to being sold for €460,000 by Jim McCartan’s Gaybrook Lodge at Arqana’s breeze-up sale in March.