IF that ridiculous sense of entitlement that an early season, All Ireland or Dublin win is a guarantee of future showring success were true, the majority of other exhibitors would stay at home. The belief, and rightfully so, that every class and championship starts with a clean slate gets an early test with broodmares and foals at Dublin where the majority of the Breeders Championship combinations line out the following morning.

Saturday morning’s breeding stock classes, under Tiernan Gill’s Brooklands Bedding banner, were judged by Mary Low and James Wigan. Attracting eight entries, the opening middle-heavyweight broodmare class was won by P.J. Lehane’s home-bred six-year-old P.J’s Dream. This Lux Z mare first appeared at Dublin in the 2011 Breeders Championship with her Big Sink Hope dam.

Also booking their place in the mare championship, was Martin and Mary Murphy’s Castlemeadow Mildred, by the 2005 Croker Cup champion Power Blade.

The lightweight mare hopefuls doubled in size to 16 with longtime Wicklow breeder Patrick Wafer’s Parkmore Evita standing top of this line-up, ahead of Stephen Culliney’s identically-bred Kilkeaney Mystic. Both mares, out of Coolcorron Cool Diamond dams, are by Ghareeb, whose broodmare daughters have built up an outstanding record in these Coote Cup classes.

Taking third was Margaret Jeffares’s five-year-old Ballykelly Notalot, the 2015 Laidlaw young horse champion here for previous owner Rebecca Monahan.

The third pair of Coote Cup contenders came from the stinted mare class, won by Marie Hennessy’s extravagant-moving Cornascriebe Suma’s Flirt, by Womanizer and John and Catherine Roche’s Assagart Sapphire in second place.

EYE-CATCHING

Maurice Wafer and Culliney also produced eye-catching trot-ups from their Ghareeb duo to seal Parkmore Evita and Kilkeaney Mystic, bred by Margaret Walsh, being called forward as champion and reserve. It was the second time that Wafer has won the Coote Cup championship, having won in 2012 with another Ghareeb daughter Miss Conci. “Evita and Miss Conci are in the same field together,” said his delighted nephew Maurice who, with brother Seamus, shows his uncle’s team.

Brooklodge April Star proved the big winner in the foal classes with this Road To Happiness filly taking her class, then adding the lucrative thoroughbred-sired foal class to her Glounthaune owners Pat and Jim O’Mahony’s paypacket. Her win would have proved some consolation for Jim who was returning to Croke Park for the Cork-Waterford showdown, while the father-son pair were amongst the exhibitors keen to see the introduction of a foal championship on Saturday.

Brendan and Aidan O’Sullivan’s O.B.O.S Quality and Martin and Mary Murphy’s Sligo Candy Boy fillies filled the other top-three places, while Leo Cahalane’s Golden Master colt was second in the thoroughbred-sired class.

Last year’s Coote Cup and Breeders Championship winning mare Slatequarry Sasha, owned by Paula Howard, produced the winning colt with her foal by the eventing stallion Centrestage, ahead of the Roche family’s Breeders Championship winning foal Assagart Hopes Are High and Kieran O’Gorman’s Munther’s Magic, a Munther full-brother to his All Ireland two-year-old champion at Tinahely.

“In England this year, the numbers have been right down and the standard, so I was impressed by the standard. The champion and reserve were particularly lovely movers at the trot,” said Low, an Olympic, World and European eventing medallist with the famous Cornishman. When asked afterwards how horses of his era would compare today, she replied: “I think quality is still important, even though they have done away with the steeplechase, roads and tracks, they still need stamina and speed.”

Her co-judge was also impressed by the foals, “I thought the filly foal was exceptional,” added Wigan.