THE Irish Draught Horse Breeders Association Kildare Branch held its Performance Show in Punchestown on Sunday, May 26th, with over 95 entries.

No introduction is needed for either judge on the day as the branch welcomed renowned HSI coach, Irish Draught and International show judge Mr Kevin McGuinness, along with Mr Brian Murphy, who is no stranger to the show ring. Brian has been successfully producing show horses and hunters for many years.

On offer were cash prizes, cups, rosettes and additional to this, the winning breeders of each breed class received a breeders’ prize of €50, thanks to Horse Sport Ireland and The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as breed classes were funded under the Breeding Grant Initiative, National Breeding Services, by the DAFM and delivered by Horse Sport Ireland.

Class 1 of the day was a very strong four and five-year-old ID ridden mare/gelding/stallion. The judges had a tough decision and gave their choice to Victoria Teuton on Shannaghmore Inferno. This young gelding was recently successful in Balmoral having been crowned Champion Ridden Irish Draught.

In second place was William McMahon on Gleann Rua Wordsworth, and third was Amellia Rossiter on her own Clogheen Seamus, who was the Youngstock Champion at the Kildare Branch’s Show this time last year as a three-year-old.

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Class 2 was the six-year-old and over ridden ID mare/gelding/stallion, which had some experienced RDS entries. This class was taken by Chris Carter on his grey gelding Cloonan Hector, followed in close second by Louise Kavanagh on Fred Showtime and in third was Mandy McLeod on Morgiana Minstrel.

The Irish Draught Ridden Championship went to Victoria Teuton on Shannaghmore Inferno, who received the O’Connor Cup, kindly sponsored by Susie and Stephen O’Connor. Victoria, a great Irish Draught judge and coach herself, made the trip down from her base in Northern Ireland that morning.

Reserve champion went to Chris Carter on Cloonan Hector of Centrepiece Rosettes, who also supplied the rosettes and wonderful sashes for the show.

Performance

The Performance Irish Draught classes were next. The well-dressed fences gave some competitors a gentle test. The branch made an effort to create a course which would be good practice for competitors planning to do this year’s RDS Performance Qualifiers.

The winner of the 80cm class, giving the judge a superb ride, was Patricia Molloy’s Cotterstown Dancer, ahead of Tadhg Dillon on Hollypark Rock on Roco. In third was Laura Snow with her a five-year-old chesnut gelding Drynam Golden Prince.

The winner of Class 4, the 90cm class was Crehelp Sliabh Pearla, ridden by Sarah Maxwell. This six-year-old grey gelding is by Mountain Pearl x The Bard. Edward, his stable name, was slowly produced by his owner and Kildare Branch member, Colin Barrett. Placing second in the 90cm was Hollypark Finn ridden by Tim McDonagh, and in third was Ellen Kavanagh on her bay horse Mountain Blues.

The judges took their time when choosing their winner in the 1m class. From plenty of experienced riders and horses, first place went to former RDS champion performance stallion Drynam Hero with rider Laura Snow, followed by Alicia Devlin Byrne on her grey gelding Gort Town Dancer in second and third place went to Sarah Maxwell on Carrafarm Constellations.

The Performance Championship was given to the young grey four-year-old named Hollypark Finn (Castlegar Cool Mist x Welcome Diamond), ridden by Tim MacDonagh, who received the Silver Queen Cup, kindly sponsored by Cecelia Delaney.

Tim bought Hollypark Finn as a three-year-old from Tom Burke in Galway and broke him to produce him as a hunter. He hunted the second half of the year and whipped-in with the Galway Blazers. Seeing his potential, they decided to hold on to him in the hope of qualifying for this year’s RDS performance draught class. Punchestown was only his third ever show. Reserve Champion went to Crehelp Sliabh Pearla.

Match made in heaven

The feature class of the day was the All-Ireland Ridden Quality Irish Draught Mare. This class was to show the quality and versatility of the Irish Draught mare most likely to produce a top-class Irish Draught for the future. There was a cash prize of €300 for the winner.

The mares’ ridden class in Punchestown was designed to show quality mares, while showcasing their full ability. The winner was William McMahon on his wife Grace Maxwell Murphy’s four-year-old Gleann Rua For Love, who is by Cappa Amadeus out of a Castana mare.

Galway-based William and Grace bought this mare as a foal. She was champion Irish Draught mare at the RDS in 2023 and is now in foal to their ID stallion Edenagor Star, who was champion Irish Draught stallion at Dublin last year. Grace said: “You could say they are a match made in heaven, we cannot wait to see her foal.”

The Supreme Championship went to the chesnut Shannaghmore Inferno ridden by Victora Teuton, and reserve went to William McMahon and Gleann Rua For Love. Both Victoria and William were thrilled with their success after the early starts, it was well worth it to get those victory gallops wearing champions sashes!