LAST year, he bred Bridget Devaney’s winning mare Emme; this year, John McDonnell won The Irish Field Breeders’ Championship with his own CBI Ice Queen and Nice Queen, her Vancouver filly foal.

The winning mare, bred by Aidan Carroll, is by the Quaprice Z son Baltic VDL and is out of the Cassini II mare Caprice.

The Crossmolina owner qualified his pair for the Championship’s show jumping section at Athlone. It once again proved a lucky hunting ground for the McDonnell brothers, as Des had qualified Emme and her Hardrock Z colt there for their owner in 2023.

Keeping up Athlone’s strike rate was last Friday’s show jumping reserve champion. It was another first-time Breeders’ Championship debut, this time for Sinead Fenton, whose Galwaybay Amele (Mermus R) and her Allroad 2000 Z filly began their path to Ring 1 after qualifying at the midlands show.

The second Mermus R mare in the top-three was Derry Rothwell’s consistent prize-winner, Greenhall Catwalk, whose own dam Millenium Cruise was a former winning mare. Greenhall One Cool Cat is her Dignified Van’t Zorgvliet colt foal at foot and this pair had qualified at Lurgan Show.

The Furlong family’s distinctive grey Bonnie (Foxglen Cruise Control) and her Z7 Ascot colt Thistletown Zorro placed fourth on their Wexford owners’ Breeders’ Championship debut after they topped the Charleville qualifier.

A second McDonnell brother was in the top-five, as Des had qualified his own Miss Manhattan (Tyson) and her Vancouver colt at West Clare, where the sixth-placed Frances Foody’s Fidachta Tulip (Cougar) and her Glynnwood Cornet colt also went through.

“It was a fabulous week. I bred Emme and this mare is as good a mare, but we were waiting for her to have a foal and then to see what the foal was like. It’s a hard class to win, but I knew I had a good combination,” said winning owner John McDonnell.

“They both won their classes the following morning, so that was an added bonus and even sweeter to come out on top with two sets of judges. They had the yard all done up with flags and balloons on Sunday night, so that was a nice homecoming.

“Thank you to all the team, [nephew] Johnathon and everybody that chipped in. Many hands make light work.”

John McDonnell’s CBI Ice Queen and Nice Queen with their owner-breeder, Johnathon McDonnell and Irish Horse World editor Judith Faherty presenting the Lynn Aldridge Perpetual Challenge Trophy after the Mayo combination won the Breeders Championship show jumping section \ Susan Finnerty

Howard’s double

A first-time win for a delighted McDonnell, although the thrill of winning the ‘Holy Grail’ again was just as great for Paula Howard.

She was the winning owner in 2016 when Slatequarry Sasha and her Greenan Fort colt were champions. Last Friday, it was her Padraig McKernan-bred Dernahatten Out Of Touch and her colt foal Timpany Northern Lights that topped the eventing section.

“My mare and foal walked into the ring on Friday morning - and were pulled in first. My heart was in my mouth, thinking, ‘She’ll never stay there’. Everyone gave their show, and she kept her place. Two Breeders’ Championships!” Paula said this week, reliving the dream result.

“For any breeder, this is surely the stuff of dreams - it has taken several days to fully sink in. The mare and foal are now out in their field - totally unimpressed by their tri-umph!”

The combination were shown for Paula by her righthand showman Davy Lyons and a winning debut by young apprentice Keva Milligan. Keva had shown the winning foal’s sire Sir Lando at Drumhowan Stud’s springtime stallion parade and then had the unique experience of showing his offspring Timpany Northern Lights in the Breeders’ Championship, alongside Dernahatten Out Of Touch.

Drumhowan Stud had cause to celebrate after Sir Lando’s stable companion Lucarelli won the Croker Cup the following day and, 20 years after his own triumph, the 2004 winner Spirit House appears in the pedigree of the reserve champion mare. This is Danielle Cusack’s Ballydurn Taylor and her Clonaslee Captain Cristo colt Brittas Monte Cristo.

The champion and reserve qualified at Lurgan and West Clare respectively.

Last year’s winning owner Richard Drohan had two combinations qualified for the eventing section and Miss Graceland (Cavalier Land) with her Move To Strike filly foal was the highest-placed of his pair in third.

Golden Moments (Golden Master) and her Island Commander colt finished sixth this year for Drohan and slotting in between the Waterford pair were Darragh Glynn and Niamh Varley’s Crannaghmore Elusive Lady (Elusive Emir) and her Centennial filly VG Centina Emira (fourth) and Yvonne Pearson’s consistent Kief Queen B (Munther) and Madame Trinity (Primary) in fifth place.

Irish Horse World editor Judith Faherty with Louise and owner Danielle Cusack with Ballydurn Taylor and Brittas Monte Cristo, reserve champions in the eventing section of The Irish Field Breeders Championship. Brittas Monte Cristo was the recent All Ireland colt foal champion and Dublin colt foal class winner \ Susan Finnerty

Judges verdict

Marc Hahne and Jacques Verkerk were this year’s judges and were pleased with the standard. “That’s a really nice show with a lot of good horses,” Hahne commented, while his co-judge noted that the ‘Irish’ element was more striking in the eventing section entries “and in the jumping foals, you see more European pedigrees, a more European type of sport horse overall.”

Are we catching up with our continental counterparts? “I think you do. You see it also in Lanaken with the results and with the Irish horses coming up in the rankings internationally. That’s mostly based on genes coming in from the mainland, of course,” added Verkerk.

He also pinpointed the rise of Irish-breds to the quality of Irish riders. “The luck is that the Irish riders are that strong, stronger than in the other countries. And that makes kind of a balance. The strong rider, even with a horse that is not so good, make a good combination. I think, if I may say so, that you breed better riders than horses!”

The natural horsemanship of Irish riders was also picked up on by Hahne. “In Holland, Germany, the young riders start in a riding school, they go slowly. But here you see the young riders, the pony riders, they have such a natural way of riding and with balance. And they are so fearless. Fearless. That’s the word.”

Matching up one of those fearless generation with an Irish-bred graduate of the Breeders’ Championship for international success - that’s the next step.