Wandy McIlwaine’s homebred daughter of Crosstown Dancer stood second in the original line-up in her lightweight class earlier on Wednesday to Kieran Ryan’s Stormhill Miller gelding Skyline. However, after Robin Sharpe had ridden both five-year-olds and they had been judged in hand by Laura Hamilton, the placings were reversed.

Also winning his class to proceed to the evening’s championship was Fiona Crowe’s nine-year-old Ard VDL Douglas grey Highdell Eclipse who always stood in first place in the middleweight division. Webb had a second ride through in the heavyweight winner, Julie O’Neill’s five-year-old West Coast Cavalier gelding Lets Coast who is maturing nicely.

The older classes were well-filled but not so the four-year-old division. In the heavyweight class, where all five entries stood their ground, Hugh Dunlop’s Power Blade chesnut, Emperors Power, was dropped to second in favour of Daphne Tierney’s Barnadown winner, Bloomfield Excelsior.

Jamie Smyth partnered Alison Crozier’s VDL Arkansas gelding Dragons Den to victory in the middleweight division. Bred by Gerry Broderick, the bay is out of the Silvano mare Ballyscully Beauty. There were only three forward in the lightweight class won by the Watermill Swatch gelding Flogas Waterford who was ridden for Brooklands Bedding by Philip Scott.

In addition to Bloomfield Excelsior, owner Daphne Tierney and rider Jane Bradbury had a second winning qualifier for the championship in Bloomfield Tiger Two who won the four and five-year-old small hunter class. This four-year-old Ghareeb grey was bred by the owner out of her Sea Crest mare Bloomfield Rebekah.

The older class winner was Erin Corbett’s Dublin small hunter champion Carnsdale Corbierre, an eight-year-old Coille Mor Hill gelding who was bred in Co Cork by Patrick Brennan out of his Welcome Diamond mare Argideen Queen.

In the Main Arena, the judges first had to select their four-year-old champion and the title went to the Jane Bradbury-ridden Bloomfield Excelsior ahead of Dragons Den. Daphne Tierney’s grey, who was bred by Paul Flanagan, is by Jack Of Diamonds (SWE) out the Cruising mare Tamerarra. He is a half-brother to the Randi gelding Santa Cruise, one of the four Irish Sport Horses on Britain’s Nations’ Cup-winning team at Odense in Denmark last Friday.

The judges obviously liked the grey as he filled the reserve position in the supreme hunter championship behind Dancing Queen. When asked why the mare won the title, Laura Hamilton replied: “On the day she’s done her job. She’s a lovely active mare, a proper show horses. The horses in the championship were a great credit to breeders here.”

According to Dancing Queen’s producer, Richard Iggulden, the five-year-old is heading to the Royal Highland where she will also compete under side-saddle. “We’ll also try to get her qualified for the side-saddle at Dublin,” he continued. “Lets Coast is also going to the Royal Highland, he has come on a lot since last year, and we’ll have a few horses for Tatts.”