SIMMONSCOURT Arena on Thursday evening was, as usual, the place to be for breeders as the three-year-old loose performance classes got underway. The tried and tested format, in place now for a number of years, saw 10 colts and geldings compete in the first class followed immediately by 10 fillies. These 20 finalists had previously impressed at various venues around the country.

Having perfected the format over a number of years, the class flowed very well with plenty for the breeder and spectator to benefit from. The class was sponsored by Horse Sport Ireland and expertly judged by current Olympic showjumping gold medallist, Britain’s Nick Skelton.

The sires Aganix du Seigneur and OBOS Quality accounted for two horses each in the colts and geldings’ class and the sire Sligo Candy Boy accounted for two of the fillies. Only one of the qualified horses was by a traditional Irish-bred sire – the former army showjumper Boherdeal Clover.

Taking top spot in the colts and geldings class was the handsome chesnut colt owned and bred by Brendan McSorley from Co Tyrone. There was no doubting this colt’s ability on the night as he showed impressive scope over the test. He is by the Zangersheide sire Aganix du Seigneur out of a mare by Clover Echo, who is a full sister to the international showjumper Echo Beach.

Speaking after the class, the delighted breeder explained that he had kept the mare for breeding purposes considering her credentials and had chosen the sire after a recommendation from top Belgian breeder Luc Henry.

Second place went to another colt Stetterino B, (Stetter x Calico) owned and bred by Claudia Gisler and Belmont House Stud, this dark bay horse was hugely impressive in his jump. Both the dam and sire of this colt jumped at 1.60m level with Gisler.

Third place in the colts and geldings’ class went to the very handsome gelding Kilcannon High Cavalier (Cavalier Royale x Puissance), owned and bred by Mary Bolger from Co. Wexford. This big attractive bay gelding had all the hallmarks of his sire and really pleased the crowd with his jumping effort.

Fillies

It was a tight run contest for the 10 impressive fillies who lined out in the three-year-old loose performance class. The winner Candy Rose, by Sligo Candy Boy out of a Lux Z mare, is owned and bred by Padraig Arthur from Co Roscommon. This big bay mare displayed an impressive jump with plenty of scope and was a hugely popular winner on the night. Second place out of the 10 finalists went to KM Sport Horses Dawsons Orestus (by Orestus), bred by Peter Killeen from Co Roscommon. The dam of this filly is by Cruising.

Third place went to Normann Watt’s unnamed filly by Van Gogh out of a mare by Arko and bred by George McCullough from Co Down.

Interestingly in the fillies’ class, the sire of both the winner and runner-up have both previously produced winners in this class. Representing 10 of the best three-year-old fillies in the country, it could be suggested that these finalists would make useful additions to the recently announced HSI embryo transfer scheme before their competition careers begin.

Comments from the stands:

The suggestion was made in the stands on the night that it would have more interest to the breeder/spectator to have heard a bit more of Nick Skelton’s observations/comments.