Native doubles at Balmoral
It was the year of the Irish Draught at Balmoral Show where several open titles were won by native breed entries.
County honours were evenly divided amongst Balmoral supreme horse titles. On Wednesday, we saw the young horse championship going to Mayo’s Tiernan Gill with his Flogas Syb and neighbouring county Galway struck too when husband-and-wife team William McMahon and Grace Maxwell Murphy’s purebred Draught Tulcon Hero won the overall ridden hunter supreme championship.
‘Galway girl’ Jessica Burke also won Friday afternoon’s Grand Prix with Express Trend (Future Trend x Condios, owned and bred by Liam Nicholas.
“Sure, Galway and Mayo are the home of the Draughts now!” Dermot Molloy said, although it was a Kerry-bred that landed a Balmoral double for the Kilkenny owner this year.
At the same time as the Grand Prix took place in the main arena, the result of the Balmoral working hunter classes and championship finale was also being played out in Mediterranean-like temperatures.
It proved to be a second Balmoral 2025 title for Molloy’s Two Mile Nigel (Two Mile Vinny x Penmerryls Rhythm & Blues. Breeder: Jerry McMahon), a shining example for the versatile Irish Draught breed after this unique double.
The first part of Two Mile Nigel’s double took place in the main arena on Thursday morning when the eye-catching five-year-old chesnut won the Irish Draught four/five-year-old performance final and then went on to stand overall Irish Draught performance champion.
Last year’s champion – Janice Reddy’s Ardnacashel Monarch (Beechmor Silver Crest x Star Kingdom) – won the second part of this championship (for six-year-olds and over Draughts) and was then selected as reserve champion.
It’s been quite a year for Reddy’s grey, approved as a Class 1 stallion at this year’s Cavan inspections and now with another Balmoral tricolour to his credit.
Bred in Co. Donegal by John Joe Trearty, Ardnacashel Monarch was again produced by Emma Jackson.
Balmoral greys
It was another striking grey that won the Jane Darragh-judged Star of the Future final in the main arena on Friday morning. This was Ella Boyle’s Monbeg Dunard Blue (Zirocco Blue VDL x Monaco) and beautifully produced by Ben Rainey. The five-year-old grey was bred in Athlone by Maeve Cuffe, who had an unforgettable 48 hours with sister Aoife’s wedding on Saturday.
Monbeg Dunard Blue won the opening class and overall championship with the reserve coming from the six/seven-year-olds.
This was Jenny Curley’s prolific young event horse classes winner Kief Rhapsody of Belline (Sligo Candy Boy x Lux Z), bred in West Cork by Kieran Fahey. A Dublin winner and WBFSH championships at Le Lion d’Angers graduate, the brown gelding was partnered as usual by Noel Dunne.
Jodie Creighton’s Creevyquin Ace (Glasgow van’t Merelsnest x Chin Chin. Breeders: Stephen & Eilish Reilly) and Sharon O’Connor’s homebred Ashwood Rio (Dignified van’t Zorgvliet x Ramiro B) were second in their respective classes to Boyle’s future champion and Curley’s reserve.
12 months ago, Cooley Rosalent’s breeder Woods Rosbotham and his daughters Barbra and Lisa received a special presentation from the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society for breeding this 2024 Kentucky CCI5* winner.
Runner-up at another five-star at Badminton the previous weekend, the Valent x Roselier grey won this same Balmoral class as a four-year-old. Big shoes for this year’s winners to follow in!
Later that afternoon, Two Mile Nigel turned the tables on another reigning champion in the Balmoral working hunter title. This time, it was Lady Perdita Blackwood’s 2024 Dublin working hunter champion Clandeboye (Scrapman x Western Light), ridden by Louise Lyons and bred by Miriam Burney. The pair had finished in reverse order on the closing day at Dublin last year.
Two pure-bred Irish Draughts as Dublin working hunter champion and reserve – same result again at Balmoral, which all means a huge boost for the breed’s popularity.
Market survey
After the Irish Draught performance championship, judged by Rachael Cox, Kerrilee Wilson and Robert Draper, it was interesting to hear feedback on the Irish Draught market in the U.K from Wilson. She came in for much praise as the ride judge in the Balmoral Irish Draught ridden classes.
From Derbyshire, she also serves on the Irish Draught Horse Society (GB) council, as well has having judged cross-channel for over 18 years.
“The Irish Draught market is very good at the moment. We’ve now got the Royal International qualifiers, so they’ve become a little more sought after again and I think there’s been quite an influx in the sport horse market too.”
“We’ve noticed a lot of competitors this year that previously just competed in the hunter classes. They’re now actually coming forward for the breed classes so that’s really good.”
“The market is very strong at the moment, but you can see why when people are turning out horses like this and presenting them to the peak of their abilities,” Draper noted.
“You know, the horses are performing and it all comes back to the temperament and solid conformation that makes people smile when they’re riding them.”
Smiling riders were out in force too in Wednesday’s ridden Irish Draught classes and here the champion was Jason Dunphy’s Edgewater Godfrey, winner of the four-year-old class with Cindy Wagner in the saddle. By the Ard Grandpa stallion Grandpa’s Diamond, this is the second Balmoral champion with the 2006 Dublin champion Gurraun Zidane as the damsire, following Tulcon Hero’s hunter championship win.
Murrisk Ashlawn Star, the ridden Draught reserve, was runner-up to Edgewater Godfrey in their class and is yet another winner produced by owner-breeder Michael Grady’s lovely Agherlow mare Ashlawn Star at Grady’s farm on the foothills of Croagh Patrick. Her four-year-old grey son, produced by Amy Grady, is by the 2024 Dublin reserve champion stallion: Farmhill Highlander.
Chappy’s happy double
The Irish Draught breed’s smaller ‘cousin’, the Connemara, is another breed to have ballooned in popularity in recent years and there was yet another Balmoral double in this category.
A day off school to attend Balmoral Show is an annual tradition for many northern schoolchildren, easily spotted wearing a stack of the Spar red cowboy hats alongside farmers in their finest tweeds and families in sun clothes this scorching week.
Luckily for Kildare schoolgirl Amira Curran (15), her parents Daryl and Jennie, gave her the day off school to compete in the ridden Connemara classes with Caherpuca Chappy.
The best education day paid off when the pair won both under-16s Connemara classes – ridden and working hunter – and then matching championships. “I don’t think its ever been done before that the same rider and pony getting both championships?” a delighted Jennie said afterwards. “We’ve owned Seb [their champion’s stable name] for just over two years. He is Amira’s best friend, she just adores him.”
“Amira and Seb have only started jumping competitively this year, all thanks to Louise Lyons who trains Amira weekly for workers.”
Not only did the Kildare pair notch up a Balmoral double this year but it was a back-to-back ridden championship for Amira and Caherpuca Chappy as they had won this title 12 months previously. Another major win was the under-16 ridden Connemara class at Dublin Horse Show in 2023.
Now an eight-year-old, the dual Connemara champion is by Coolin America out of Loughfadda Darling and was bred by Micheal and Kendra Rabbitte.
This year’s Balmoral reserve champion Connemaras are Avril Kelly’s Monaghanstown Rosie (Tempo Cashel. Breeder: Mary Rabbitte) and Margaret Thompson’s homebred Grove Rosalind (Ross Fear Bui) in the ridden and working hunter divisions.