SHOW CLASSES:CONNEMARA PONIES took centre stage in the show rings at the RDS yesterday with the afternoon's newly introduced breeders' championship falling to Slane's Francis and Deirdre O'Reilly.
The Co Louth couple exhibited their home-bred Glenmore Kellys Owen along with her colt foal Glean Mór Bar Navave Buachaill by Cuileog Cashel.
The 15-year-old grey by Abbeyleix Owen won previously at Dublin and was successful at the recent Midlands Connemara championship show.
Another grey making a winning reappearance at the show was Lorli Higgins’s 10-year-old Glencarrig Finn gelding Grey Victory which was victorious here in 2007, won the older ponies’ hunter performance class under the owner’s daughter Emily.
The class for Connemaras aged five to seven was claimed by Swords rider Lydia Dawson on her mother Helena’s Laerkens Cascade Dawn gelding Gloster Boy, which has enjoyed a very successful season.
Second was the roan gelding Bruckless Elmar, a seven year old whose rider, Caroline Murtagh, is a daughter of lead flat jockey Johnny Murtagh.
Former amateur jockey PJ Casey won the large riding horse class en route to landing the championship on the five-year-old Chillout gelding Chaperon who is produced in Oldtown, Co Dublin, by Kieran Ryan for owner Patrice Dorney.
The reserve ribbon went to Lyndsey Wallace from Dromore, Co Down, who was riding her 10- year-old chestnut mare Alice Through The Looking Glass, also a winner 12 months ago of the smaller division.
Lurgan’s Aaron McCusker, riding for Dromore’s Natalie Irwin, claimed the cob title on the heavyweight class winner Top Gear II, a nine-year-old grey gelding. Co Galway-based Imelda O’Shaughnessy was beckoned forward into the reserve slot with her five-year-old lightweight gelding the Forger, a grey by Huntingfield Rebel.
The morning’s ridden Irish draught class attracted a large crowd to Ring 1. Four fences were jumped this year and there was a much improved performance all around, with only one horse being eliminated. The winner was an absolutely delighted Alva Gunne riding her eight-year-old mare Silver Skippy.
The grey was bred by the owner’s husband Fintan Flannelly of Kill International Equestrian Centre and is by Silver Granite.
There was a lot of interest in the presentation stages of the young event horse classes and the new small event horse class and, starting with the latter, these will jump in the main arena this morning.
Two-year-old horses will come under the scrutiny of the judges in Ring 1 at 9am. At noon Séamus Lehaboldne from Co Cork will exhibit his Master Imp gelding Ballard Eagle, winner of the youngstock championship here last year.