AS widely predicted, Gortfree Hero returned to claim a third Irish Draught stallion class at Dublin. His win for Tourmakeady owner Sean Barker continued the good run of success in Irish Draught classes by Mayo exhibitors, including a repeat win by Barker’s other stallion, Gortfree Lakeside Lad in the performance classes.

Already a champion in 2010 and 2014, the 16-year-old liver chesnut is one of the more senior winners of recent years during which he has produced a number of showring winners. These included Gortfree Lakeside Lad, who repeated his 2017 performance championship win in Ring 2 on Wednesday with Linda Murphy.

Now with Wayne Chapman at the helm, Gortfree Hero was pulled in top of Nigel Peel and Maren Schlender’s preliminary line-up and stayed there. He was bred in Ballaghderreen, Co Roscommon, by Francis Lafferty and is by the Naldo son, Castana out of the Uibh Fhaili ’81 mare Princess Royale.

His return to Tourmakeady is delayed as both he and Gortfree Lakeside Lad left direct from Dublin for the Irish Draught Horse Society (GB) annual show held this week at Arena UK, where he is entered in the Maturity class.

RESERVE CHAMPION

Picking up his second Dublin reserve title after his 2015 result, was last year’s champion Cappa Aristocrat. One of four entries made this year by a big time supporter of this class, Jimmy Quinn, the seven-year-old is more of a traditional model for Draught purists and was bred in Co Galway by Laurencetown breeder Pascal Claffey. By the Annaghdown Star-sired Star Kingdom, his dam is the Carrabawn View mare Bellevue Golden Girl and Aristocrat had a busy Horse Show week having also lined out in the Irish Draught performance class. He was one of four former winners in this year’s field with the others being PJ Fitzpatrick’s Carrabawn Cross (sixth) and three-time champion Cappa Cassanova.

Third place went to Pat Hoare’s Moylough Legacy, a Carrabawn Cross six-year-old, that continues to edge closer to the top and in fourth was Donal Goland’s four-year-old Grandpa’s Rebel, by his own stallion Rebel Mountain.

Completing the top-six places was another of Cappa Stud’s entries and last year’s reserve champion: Cappa Dianthus.

Seeing the crowds around Ring 1 for the Irish Draught stallion parade on Thursday and judging on Friday was a reminder of what a loss this shopwindow is to thoroughbred stallion owners. Owners also reported keen interest and a steady flow of callers to the stallion boxes.

HONOURED

Once again, it was an eclectic combination of UK and German judges with hunting enthusiast Nigel Peel, who also judged cobs and heavyweight hunters last week and Maren Schlender, from the Hanoverian Verband. “I was very honoured to be invited to come to the Horse Show and it was a great experience. I loved his presence,” she said about their champion. “He was old but still very good, clean and straight [limbs]. I liked also his temperament and I know temperament is really an important thing for the Irish Draught.”