TWELVE months of solid rainfall saw Clarecastle Show move to higher ground for this year’s event. That new venue aside, it is difficult to see how and where else Clarecastle can reach greater heights.

The organisation and level of detail at last Sunday’s event won widespread praise, led by Michael Ring. The Westport TD, who introduced funding for Irish agricultural shows in 2018, thought he had been invited solely to perform the official opening and then found himself one of five recipients of this year’s Clarecastle medals.

Those presentations (see page 86) are part of the many finishing touches introduced by the show chairman Michael Slattery, but the basics were also in place. These included large, well-laid out rings, ample parking and an excellent traffic flow system and a second exit option onto the Kildysart road was opened in the afternoon for homeward-bound traffic.

Last year, it was that Doctor Seuss hat; this year, Clarecastle’s 'Mr Meet and Greet', David Hanrahan opted for a colourful Rastifarian-meets-Court-Jester look when welcoming Michael Hughes to Clarecastle Show \ Susan Finnerty

Last year’s riverside setting, with the backdrop of the 13th century Clare Castle, was spectacular. However, the move to a larger 20-acre site at Claremount, where its old limestone turf was manicured to near-Croke Park standards, paid dividends.

Another Clarecastle ‘magnet’ is its exceptional prize fund on offer, during a summer when one of the most common observations heard from exhibitors is about the poor levels of prize money.

The Banner Broodmare championship prize fund, for example, totalled €18,000 when 20 stallion nominations, generously provided by owners nationwide, are added to the prize money.

Each of the stallions - Another Pleasure, Boleybawn Alvaro, Casago II, Casalido, Cascari, Cruising Encore, Denounce, DS Shotgun, Durango VDL, Elusive Emir, Harper Du Seigneur, Imperial Tiger, Let The Lion Roar, Lucky Luck, Paris Blue Merelsnest Z, Risohorse Locorotondo, Rosier, Sligo Candy Boy, Steeped In Luck and Such A Fool - were each allocated a full-page colour feature in the sold-out catalogues.

Incidentally, one of the interesting snippets in the Clarecastle catalogue was an anecdote about how a young Caroline Kennedy competed at the original Clarecastle Gymkhana during a family holiday in 1967.

The draw for nominations took place before judging began and, living up to the ‘luck of the draw’ premise, Darragh Glynn won the nomination to Elusive Emir. Owned by his fiancee Niamh Varley’s father, John!

The Banner Broodmare championship is one of the keystone events since the show was revived in 2016 and this year’s champion was John Roche’s Assagart Faithfully, last year’s Coote Cup champion at Dublin. Another home-bred, she is by Coroner (TB) out of the Foulksmill family’s Assagart Sapphire (Flagmount King).

Siobhan Madden and Joe O’Donoghue had last year’s champion - Sheelagh Barry’s Mythical Darwin - as their reserve champion choice. By Harlequin du Carel, the Selle Français stallion bought as a foal from Normandy by one of this year’s Clarecastle medal recipients Paddy Quirke, she is out of the Cruising dam Mythical Cruise.

Derry Rothwell’s Greenhall Push Button, by the 2011 Croker Cup champion Financial Reward, repeated her third-place result from last year’s show and was one of several in the class scheduled to line out in yesterday’s The Irish Field Breeders’ Championship at Dublin Horse Show.

Another one was the fourth-placed mare, Danielle Cusack’s Ballydurn Taylor, also by a former Croker Cup champion in Spirit House. Seamus Lehane’s Ballard Peaches & Cream (Kings Master) took fifth place for a second year and in sixth place was Jason Dunphy’s Kilnaspic Take A Chance On Me, one of three O.B.O.S Quality mares in the final.

Jointly-sponsored by Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) and Clarecastle Show Society, HSI’s Conor Sheridan was at Clarecastle, where he expressed the hope that the MacCarthy Cup would return to Offaly next year.

Horse Sport Ireland’s Conor Sheridan and Michael Blake, Irish show jumping manager, at the Clarecastle ringside \ Susan Finnerty

Colt foal final

One All-Ireland final has already gone to the midlands this year, as in the following All-Ireland colt foal final, sponsored by Ennis Municipal Authority, there was a Co Laois win.

This happened when Ballydurn Taylor’s foal Brittas Monte Cristo by the Cusack family’s own traditionally-bred stallion Clonaslee Captain Cristo, won the James Duffy and Vincent Holian-judged Irish Shows’ Association (ISA) final.

This year’s reserve champion was Kieran O’Gorman’s Munther colt Munther’s Diamond, out of Floating Hope (Brookfield Floating Lux), another Dublin-bound combination.

In third was a Glynnwood Cornet foal, owned by Mary Dooner, maintaining the Athlone family’s strike rate in the final. Mary won it last year, while her father Michael won in 2022.

Fourth place went to Mythical Darwin’s Bravour VDL colt, while Adrian Shoer’s Sir Jim Jim and Michael McDermott’s LMD Iron Like (Tyson) foals filled fifth and sixth places.

Seeing how the typical young horse class numbers were falling in recent years, Clarecastle redesigned their classes from the outset of the revived show. The top-four from each of the morning’s young horse classes, judged by Eyleen Nugent and Tim Wilson, were eligible for the overall Brian Boru young horse final and an excellent rate of 15 out of a possible 16 returned for the Horse Sport Ireland-sponsored championship.

Siobhan Madden and Joe O’Donoghue stepped back in for judging duty here and selected Sharon Kelly-Murphy and Shirley Cox’s Annaghmore Dunkirk as their overall champion.

Already an All-Ireland champion this summer, having won a superb three-year-old final at Bannow and Rathangan Show last month, the gelding is by HHS Cornet, while his Clover Echo dam is from Flo Jo’s family.

Incidentally, his For Kinmar Hero Z half-brother won the All-Ireland two-year-old final at Tinahely on August Bank Holiday Monday for his Armagh owner and both were bred by Aoife Healion.

Clean slate

Judging in the Brian Boru grand final started again on a clean slate with the new judges. However, the overall championship was dominated by the two/three-year-old sport horse class results, as chasing Annaghmore Dunkirk to the line was Tiernan Gill’s Flogas Syb (Calvino Z), second in that class earlier in the day.

Battle of Dunkirk: the Boyne Valley blacksmith Tom King guards the Brian Boru champion Annaghmore Dunkirk and Shirley Hurst at Clarecastle \ Susan Finnerty

Last year’s Brian Boru reserve champion, Dermot Gordon’s Heartbreaker Boy (Vancouver), had matching third places in both the two/three-year-old class and the overall final. Taking fourth place in both was Pat Finn’s Frenchfort Kildysart Lady (Chelis HC Z), another All-Ireland champion present in the Clarecastle mix, having won the recent two-year-old filly final at Kildysart.

Joanne Doran’s The Outsider (Elusive Emir) was the highest-placed traditional-bred in the Brian Boru final when he placed fifth, ahead of Frank Browne’s Cavern Hill Captain (Captain Cruise), the winner of the morning’s TIH class and the Philip Heenan Cup.

More supreme contenders included Shelly Barling Bridges’ Skehana Inisfree Lady (Inisfree The Holy Grail), the winner of the Irish Draught class, the lesser-supported of the young horse classes and Pat Finn’s other Chelis HC Z entry, Frenchfort Amy, who took the red in the yearling championship.

Catching the closing stages of the Brian Boru final was Irish Show Jumping High Performance Director - Michael Blake - whose hometown show in Scariff takes place on Sunday, September 1st.

It was the second year of the Shannon Connemara championships and, like the other native breed class in the young horse section, entries could have been stronger in some classes. Others held up well and George O’Malley and Denise Norton’s Shannon Connemara champion was Patrick Curran’s Glencarrig Laurina, by the Moycullen family’s own Glencarrig Knight. This was a back-to-back win for the mare, who won this inaugural title last year and standing reserve was another of Glencarrig Knight’s offspring in Grace Maxwell Murphy’s Glencarrig Princess Ella.

“Our in-hand champion was absolutely lovely, very true to type and produced to perfection. Our foal champion was an absolute peach, it’s lovely to see nice foals coming along,” commented O’Malley, referring to Brian Keaney’s Evergreen Rose (Caherlistrane Bay), winner of the filly foal class and then the foal championship.

For a second year, Clarecastle was selected in sister paper The Farmers’ Journal Irish Horse section, as the Show of the Year, picking up another Galway Crystal trophy in the process.

The award was on display during the official opening, also attended by two members of the victorious Banner County hurling team - locals Cian Broderick and Cian Galvin - with the Liam MacCarthy Cup in tow.

“One day Mayo will win the Sam Maguire and the Brian Boru cups” - Clashmore Stud’s Joe O’Donoghue makes a prediction to Tiernan Gill, holding Pat Finn’s All-Ireland two-year-old champion Frenchfort Kildysart Lady \ Susan Finnerty

In fact, there was a crowd of over 100 children lined up outside the hospitality marquee, waiting for their photos with the pair and ‘Liam’.

Slattery declared the show’s success as the result of team effort, adding: “Since the establishment of the Clarecastle Show Society, we have sought ways and means to support and promote breeders of the Irish horse; to raise the profile of our native place and to create an environment where our sponsors and supporters can enjoy a pleasant and rewarding day at our show. Today, we believe we realised our objectives.

“The sun shone, the grounds were superb, the judging perfect, the prize money exceptional and the competition in all horse classes on a par with the best in the land. To all involved, mo bhuiocas, go deo.”

What they said

“This [Clarecastle Show] is one of the special occasions in the village and we’re very proud of it. It’s a fantastic occasion and myself and Cian [Broderick] are only delighted to be here.”

Cian Galvin, Clarecastle and Clare team member.

“Having seen how good the show was last year, I was making the return trip. And the two Cians... if you could look after ‘Mr MacCarthy,’ because we’re really looking forward to bringing him home to Co Offaly next year.”

Conor Sheridan, Horse Sport Ireland.

“They wouldn’t even let me rub the [MacCarthy Cup] in case I put the [supposed Mayo] curse on it for next year!”

Michael Ring, TD.

“I didn’t have to go to France for the medal, I got it here!”

Eilene Brennan.

“I’m one of those people when I go to Lidl for the bread and butter, I come out with a keyboard and chainsaw. Here, last August, I saw some pygmy goats and, by the end of the following week, I had five of them bought and up on the farm!

“This show inspires people. This is a show that you will not see surpassed in any part of the country. I love what happens in this tent, it is usually handing over rosettes to prize winners at a show, but it is fabulous to acknowledge the people who keep shows thriving.”

Cathal Crowe, TD.

“Michael Slattery and his team are to be greatly commended. The standard of young horses, mares and foals presented at Clarecastle Show was exemplary and bodes well for the future of quality horses being bred in Ireland. Blood and step came to the fore in abundance in the young horse classes and breeders should take a bow.”

Eyleen Nugent, judge.

“Clarecastle Show should be called after Michael Slattery.”

Michael Ring.

“I’ve often asked that busy man [Michael Slattery] for help, and he’s always given it. I had a funeral [aunt Edna O’Brien) yesterday, I had the Olympics last week, I had the car boot sale this morning and that had to be ran. I had Lady Antonia Fraser in for tea and then, I rang my brother [John] and said, ‘Is the show still on?’ So, Michael Slattery... you don’t know what you’ve got here. The man’s a genius.”

Michael Blake.

“What a privilege to have been asked to judge the in-hand Connemara ponies at Clarecastle Show. To say that George [O’Malley] and I enjoyed our day judging is an understatement.

“The welcome we received is second to none. Every day judging with George is a day you learn something new. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience and is always so generous with his time.

“A special day at a special show.”

Denise Norton.

“When I arrived in Clarecastle, I will use a word, often used in the USA: awesome. Really, it’s the only way to describe the showgrounds. You receive the warmest welcome from everyone there. It was a great pleasure to judge with Denise, we think along similar lines.”

George O’Malley.