NARROW margins separated the champions in both Horse Sport Ireland-sponsored three-year-old performance finals, judged by Adrian Marsh and Andrew Saywell.

For winning owner Ann Lambert, Ashfield Bouncer’s win in the colt/gelding division was some good fortune after a tough year. Her mother Ann passed away in February from Covid-19 which Ann herself then battled and in April, the family lost Killinick Bouncer, the winner’s sire.

Having produced a Yeats-Presenting filly that sold for €34,000 at Tattersalls August National Hunt Sales, she followed up with the first win by a purebred Irish Draught in this final.

Andrea Etter’s home-bred Mr Connery B, first to go of the eight finalists, held an early lead on 92 marks. The closest challenger was Des and Paula Farrell’s Sir Hugo Bon (88) and the Sibon W gelding’s score proved good enough for eventual third place.

Lambert first spotted Ashfield Bouncer as a foal when his Ard Grandpa dam Derrane Lady returned to their Grange Stud with owner Greg Conway. “I was half looking for a Killinick Bouncer Draught or half-bred son and thought ‘this foal is gorgeous’. When you let him out, he’d point the toe and looked like a thoroughbred.” She bought him as a yearling from Conway. “A lovely man,” Ann remarked about the Bray shopkeeper who earned a €900 breeder’s bonus.

“Father [Jack] was born in Ashfield, just down the road,” she said, explaining the colt’s name. “Ado Moran in Borris had him for three weeks before the qualifiers. He wouldn’t have done much jumping before Ado got him. He had him turned out to perfection and Ado was very confident going to Dublin. The horse just loved the occasion.”

Winner of the three-year-old colt/gelding division of the HSI performance finals, Ann Lambert's Ashfield Bouncer \ Laurence Dunne Jumpinaction.net

Previous Draught finalists include Class 1 stallions Kilcotton Cross and Luke Skywalker and the HSI inspections are the next target for Lambert’s charismatic grey who has already covered 30 mares. “The inspections are the main thing,” said Lambert, who hopes to return to Dublin with Ashfield Bouncer under saddle. His versatile sire Killinick Bouncer won the Irish Draught performance final, placed sixth in the stallion class and was on the third-placed Riding Club team at Dublin one year.

Reserve champion Mr Connery B’s sire Ganesh Hero Z also had Dublin form. “Ganesh jumped in Dublin as a three, four- and five-year-old. He was fifth in the three-year-olds, then he won the Dublin four-year-old qualifier at Barnadown and went on to win both classes and finished third in the final,” Andrea recalled. “He was in the final again as a five-year-old and is now successfully jumping at international young horse 1.40m level, ridden by Mexican rider Carlos Hank Guerreiro for Team H5.”

She plans to cover some mares with Mr Connery B next year. Her home-bred is out of Lovestory B, by the ex-Belmont House Stud resident stallion O-Piloth and out of Lorina, from the dam line of Eurocommerce Berlin.

“She’s a five-star mare that jumped at 1.60m level with my brother Daniel and won the Swiss championships and also the title “Swiss horse of the year”. Lovestory B was kept as a broodmare and is also the dam of Light Of Fire B (Celtic Hero B Z) that was in the top 10 at the RDS three-year-old final two years ago.

“The plan is to bring him on slowly. I’m very confident of his potential and believe he has a great future ahead of him,” said Andrea, who also bred this year’s four-year-old winner MBF Celtic Claddagh (Celtic Hero B Z).

“Very electric off the floor, good canter and a horse for the future sport, definitely. Second place was a lovely type of a horse, very quality but he just edged it, a little bit more electric,” Andrew Saywell commented.

Patience rewarded

The final was postponed by 24 hours after Saturday’s monsoon-like rainfall. Waiting another day to finally win this final with Luisa (Luidam) after a 30 year-drought was no inconvenience to Noel Cawley, who also bred the seven-year-old champion Emerald Mystique.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years and this is the first time I’ve been in the top 10! I gave her to DJ [O’Sullivan] to produce and she was treated naturally, she has a phenomenal jump. I got a great kick out of winning, it was worth waiting for,” a delighted Cawley commented about his elusive win. By the family’s calculations, nine of their unplaced finalists including Abbervail Dream, Golden Exchange and Rincarina, turned out to be Grand Prix horses.

Luisa’s dam – Lexi Lady, by the late Flexible – is well-related as her full siblings are Hybernia and Dowth Hall. “All three were embryos, born the same week and her grandmother has bred three Nations Cup horses, including Mullaghrdrin Touch The Stars.

“This is a lovely filly, the nicest filly she [Lexi Lady] ever bred. She’s got a beautiful temperament. I couldn’t say that about the mother!” said Cawley, recalling how Lexi Lady, who has a Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve filly this year, was entered in the Ballinasloe three-year-old loose jumping. “And the only thing she jumped was a car!”

Taking the next two places in the filly final was Greg Broderick’s home-bred pair of BP Seventeen and BP Royale Tara, both by his Diamant de Semilly stallion, Jorado. “We’re delighted with Jorado and how he’s proving himself as a sire. In his first year covering as a three-year-old, he only covered a handful of mares. Out of that bunch, to have two of his fillies win the qualifiers and placed second and third in the RDS is wonderful,” said Greg’s sister Cheryl, who manages the Ballypatrick breeding operation.

“There was only 0.5 between our filly (96) and Noel’s filly scores (96.5), making it a really exciting and competitive class. Greg says Jorado himself gives a great feel, very balanced, uphill and a great canter, so he is definitely passing that trait to his offspring. I think he is really stamping his offspring as they’re all bay, good-looking types,” she said about the stallion, known at home as ‘Gorgeous George’.

“They were a very competitive bunch,” Adrian Marsh remarked about their 10 finalists. “At the end of the day we just thought the one that won had that little bit more spark in her jump.“

Results

Horse Sport Ireland future performance finals

Colt/geldings – 1, Ann Lambert’s Ashfield Bouncer (gr c by Killinick Bouncer – Derrane Lady, by Ard Grandpa. Breeder: Greg Conway); 2, Etter Sportpferde AG & Andrea Etter’s Connery B (Ganesh Hero Z – Lovestory B, by O-Piloth. Breeder: Owner); 3, Des & Paula Farrell’s Sir Hugo Bon (ch g by Sibon W – Farnes Hope, by O.B.O.S Quality 004. Breeder: Michael Tyther); 4, Stephen Howley & Alan Connor’s un-named (g by Sligo Candy Boy – Harlequin Clover Lady, by Harlequin du Carel. Breeder: Owner); 5, Brian Hutchinson’s SVS Showman (b g by Romanov – SVS Sensation, by Emerald van’t Ruytershof. Breeder: Owner; 6, Tracy Walshe’s Ballinaguilkey Specialstar (b g by Big Star – Cavalier Milly, by Ramiro B. Breeder: John & Barbara Walshe).

Fillies – 1, Noel Cawley’s Luisa (ch f by Luidam – Lexi Lady, by Flexible. Breeder: Owner); 2, GBBS Int. Ltd’s BP Seventeen (b f by Jorado – Ballypatrick Eve, by Cruising. Breeder: Owner); 3, GBBS Int. Ltd’s BP Royal Tara, by Jorado - Persian Royal, by HHS Brother Charlton. Breeder: Owner; 4, Stephen Kelliher’s Caraghs High Queen (b f by Adieu Z – Caragh Roller, by High Roller. Breeder: Owner; 5, Jackie & George Lee’s D Cullen Dominator Z (b f by Dominator Z – Cullen Alpha, by Courage II. Breeder: Owner; equal 6, Yul McAteer’s br f by Sligo Candy Boy – Boriada, by Guidam. Breeder: Owner and Craig Carson’s Metro Zalanski (br f by Polanski – Zalsa, by Metropole. Breeder: John Kearney.

See pages 91 for the rest of the RDS National Equestrian Championships results.