Dublin Horse Show – Day 2 Showing Round-up

Day 2 of the Dublin Horse Show and the tricolours stacked up – from the elegance of the ladies side-saddle class to the bedrock stock of the Irish Sport Horse seen in the Irish Draught mare and foal classes and then to the most versatile pony in the world: the Connemara.
Today is the young horse championship decider and the first contenders threw down their bid for the overall Dublin champion, which is decided from the yearling, two and three-year-old champions.

The two and three-year-old titles were decided yesterday with the first champion being William Little’s two-year-old My Valleys Diamond, by the late Holsteiner stallion Vittorio.
Her dam My Valleys Angel is by Emperor Augustus, whose Lackaghbeg Augustus Star won the ladies side-saddle class later on in the day while one of the top show horse sires of the 1990s – Euphemism – is also seen in her pedigree.
“The family goes back to a mare I bought from John Hickey in West Cork: The Queen of Coronea,” said the Tyrone owner. (His foundation mare was by Bassompierre, sire of David O’Connor’s Sydney Olympics individual gold medal winner: Custom Made).

Her great-grandaughter was second in Balmoral this year and won the All Ireland two-year-old filly title at Kildysart last Sunday. “We’ll go into the young horse championship tomorrow and take our chances!”
Interestingly, Dessie Gibson showed William’s broodmares and the same Dromara showman also had a role in this year’s side-saddle class winner: Lackaghbeg Augustus George.
Bred in Turloughmore, Co Galway by Paddy and Connie Joyce, the eyecatching grey was a big in-hand winner for Gibson, including Balmoral before he went to the U.K to the Robert Oliver stables.
Cross-channel champions returning to Ireland is a theme of some Dublin champions – as seen in the Day 1 report about the small hunter championship about Andrea McKee’s Ebony King.
‘Gus’, as the elegant side-saddle winner is known as by owner Leonie O’Gorman is bred on classic traditional lines of a thoroughbred stallion crossed with an Irish Sport Horse mare.
Keelans Star, his dam, goes back to the Irish Draught stallion Star Kingdom, then a stream of thoroughbred sires, including Standard Bearer, Terence and Blue Cliff.
Gus’s distinctive fleabitten grey colour is known as a ‘West Cork grey’, and legend has it this coat pattern is said to stem from the era of trading Andulasian and Lusitano horses between Spain and Ireland.
To compete in the Dublin side-saddle class, exhibitors had to qualify at nationwide shows and Leonie and Gus made the trek from Co Monaghan to Charleville. The reserve in this class was Lyndsey O’Brien’s Creevaghstable Mr Bloomfield, a purebred Irish Draught. He was bred in Hollymount, Co. Mayo by a great Draught enthusiast Peter McHugh.
Back to the young horse classes and it was a filly power clean sweep, which also sets up the first part of an intriguing filly championship today, as the two-year-old reserve champion was another with a lengthy family tree. This is Kilcahill Ruby, the All Ireland filly foal champion at Moate two years ago and another of the Newell family’s Kilcahill line. Brendan’s filly was second to My Valleys Diamond in their class and the order remained the same in the Jonathan Mills and Tim Wiggett-judged two-year-old championship.
Kilcahill Ruby is by Financial Reward, Donal Goland’s winner of the 2011 thoroughbred stallion class at Dublin – we’ll see our first glimpse of this year’s contenders in today’s preliminary parade.
Her Colin Diamond-Clover Brigade dam Kilcahill Diamond is a prolific producer of All Ireland champions for the Claregalway family, particularly in the traditionally-bred finals and as Kilcahill Ruby is also traditionally-bred, we’ll see her in the traditional-bred championship.
A question asked by several interested UK ringside spectators yesterday was ‘what is a traditional-bred?’ Essentially, its a horse with thorougbred, Irish Draught or even a dash of Connemara in its pedigree and there is a specific championship for such horses at Dublin Horse Show.

Another example of a traditional-bred was seen in the three-year-old champion: Aidan and Lucinda Williamson’s KLF Robinhood. (Another home-bred traditional-bred, he also qualifies for today’s Pembroke Cup for exhibitor-bred winners and the traditional-bred championship). Its been a memorable 12 months for the young couple between their wedding and now a Dublin champion.
KLF Robinhood won the lightweight three-year-old gelding class – Dublin’s class specifications hark back to the era of hunter weights – and the bay is by Jack The Robin, the thoroughbred stallion that originally stood with Ann Lambert and is now based in the Celle State Stud in Germany.
His Ghareeb dam Ballard Jewel was herself another All Ireland filly foal champion for her breeder Seamus Lehane and her West Cork pedigree goes back to Abdullah, the former H.I.S stallion that moved to Ireland and .. Bassompierre.
The reserve champion three-year-old was Daphne Tierney’s Bloomfield Inheritance, yet another home-bred and the winner of the middle/heavyweight gelding class. By the Clinton son Dignified van’t Zorgvliet and out of the Financial Reward dam Bloomfield Diana, Another contender for that Pembroke Cup home-bred title!
So, two out of three age category champions already decided – today is the big one when the Laidlaw Cup championship is decided.

TWO-YEAR-OLD CHAMPION – My Valleys Diamond, filly by Vittorio (HOLST) out of My Valleys Angel (ISH), by Emperor Augustus (TB). Owner-breeder: William Little.
THREE-YEAR-OLD CHAMPION – KLF Robinhood (TIH), by Jack The Robin (TB) out of Ballard Jewel (ISH) by Ghareeb (TB). Owner-breeder: Aidan & Lucinda Williamson.
SIDE-SADDLE CHAMPION – Lackaghbeg Augustus Star (TIH), by Emperor Augustus (TB) out of Keelans Star (ISH) by Star Kingdom (ID). Owner: Leonie O’Gorman. Breeder: Paddy & Connie Joyce.