Margie McLoone

PREVIEW COBS

SAM McAteer won the cob championship at last year’s Dublin Horse Show with the then five-year-old Randalstown Raffles who looked as if he could easily run up a sequence of top level wins.

Rider Lesley Webb obviously fancied the grey gelding’s chances to take the Balmoral title in May but the lightweight winner Raffles had to settle for the reserve slot behind his similarly coloured, year younger stable-companion Randalstown Cromwell, winner of the heavyweight division.

In his class at Balmoral, Randalstown Raffles stood ahead of another grey gelding, Honourable Intent, who is produced by rider P.J. Casey for British owner Millie Bowlby. However, their positions were reversed at Tattersalls where Casey’s mount went on to be reserve champion. The four-year-old Irish Sport Horse is by the Irish Draught Clooneen Sea King out of a mare by Huntingfield Rebel.

Also heading to Dublin is the Balmoral maxi class winner Benediction who will be ridden by Jamie Smyth for Comber owner Alison Farley. Another registered ISH gelding, the eight-year-old bay is by the ID stallion Lislap Benedict out of Linvista Queen, by Blue Rajah.

The Gowran Hunt Horses’ team of owner Pat Loughlin and rider Brian Murphy are heading back to the Dublin Horse Show this year with The Peaky Blinder who won his maxi class at the Ballsbridge showgrounds last August and went on to be reserve champion.

The grey failed to meet his engagement at Balmoral in May but was champion cob at Gorey and, sticking to the south-east circuit, supreme champion at Wexford Equestrian. Most recently the six-year-old won his maxi class and was champion cob at Tattersalls. The Peaky Blinder is an Irish Draught gelding by Rockrimmon Silver Diamond out of a Mountain Diamond mare.

A full Draught gelding heading to Dublin from Co Galway is Chantilly Farm’s home-bred Chantilly Chameleon. Second in his lightweight class last August, the five-year-old by Huntingfield Rebel out of Creggan Emperor mare won the cobs at Mullingar and Ballivor and was second in the All Ireland ridden ID class at Ardrahan. He is ridden by Paul O’Shaughnessy.

Ann O’Grady won the heavyweight class last year on Mr Alsorts whose owner, Fionnuala Moloney Carey, will be in the saddle next week on Kate Boyce’s Westend Willie. In his first season showing, the seven-year-old blue and white heavyweight by Granite Hero has notched up eight wins from nine starts, mainly on the Cork circuit, but also at Ardrahan.

Craughwell’s Maria McNamara finished second in the maxi cob class at Dublin last year with Shanbally The Real McCoy but next week she is due to appear before Bumble Thomas and Nigel Peel in the lightweight division where she rides her father Tom’s Shanbally The Real Deal, a five-year-old black gelding.

McNamara will still come up against the Gowan Hunt Horses team in this class as they are returning with their fifth-placed gelding from last August, Huntingtown. The five-year-old chesnut gelding is by the ID sire Echo King out of a Star Kingdom mare. It’s great to see more cobs with recorded breeding as it provides recognition for their breeders.

The cob classes will start at 3.10pm in Ring Two on Friday.