IT was the end of an era at Louisburgh Show last Sunday as show chairman Tommy Bennett, instrumental in the show’s revival in 2006, steps down from his role after 12 years at the helm. He was on hand for a presentation made by the western Mayo show to the Irish Shows Association national secretary Michael Hughes.

“I’m getting afraid to go to shows lately!” said Hughes, who was also on the receiving end of similar presentations at Bannow and Rathangan on Thursday and Barryroe the previous day to mark his 40 years’ service to the association.

Louisburgh was where the Minister for Community and Rural Development Michael Ring, T.D, had promised 12 months ago to look at funding to aid agricultural shows. That aid arrived in the form of an €812,000 package.

Performing the official opening was the ISA western region chairman Paddy Joe Foy, who against a backdrop of falling entries at shows, called for more funding from the Department of Agriculture and the Irish Horse Board “to be injected into breeding ponies and horses. It’s just not economical anymore for breeders.”

Horse Sport Ireland had provided sponsorship again for the Irish Draught broodmare and foal championships in a once teeming area for Draughts. The first of the HSI championships was won by Hughie and Mary Murphy’s filly foal by DS Ballagh Bouncer out of Barnaview Queen, and in reserve was Noel Sheridan’s Cappa Amadeus entry. Murphy’s two-year-old full-sister to his winning foal capped the family’s day by winning the Irish Draught championship.

It was an all-round result for Liam Lynskey in the following HSI mare class that he won with Sean Ruane’s Strictly Come Bouncing, as he stands both her sire Moylough Bouncer and his stallion son DS Ballagh Bouncer. Completing the Mayo clean sweep was Noel Sheridan again, with his Castana Mare Bellfield Princess and Pat Murphy’s Puntabegs Lady, by Tors Gentleman Farmer.

RACE TO THE INTERNET

The win by the reigning Dublin champion Strictly Come Bouncing was some measure of compensation for her connections as they were thwarted by the RDS’ new online entries system and so she won’t defend her title.

“I’m a massive fan of the RDS and the thought only the best should be on show there, it is a huge shop window for the Irish horse industry.

“But this year it was with great disappointment I find that it is the best people in or out of the country with [fast] internet that get their horse entered for the show, not the best Connemara and Irish Draught,” Lynskey commented, calling on the RDS to introduce qualifiers for these classes, instead of entering Dublin becoming a “race to the internet”.

His Derryronane Stud stable jockey Hannah Gordon won the supreme championship on Anthony Gill’s unnamed O.B.O.S Quality full-sister to his young horse champion here last year.

It was a late finish for Wexford judges George Chapman and Michael Murphy from Gorey and a separate ring for Irish Draught classes, which is this show’s speciality, would be beneficial next year.

Both the Connemara and pony rings had finished before the main Draught classes got underway with a clash with Ballyconneely. “The quality was really good though, there’s some fantastic ponies around here,” said Audrey Donoghue, who with Sean Dunne, selected Alannah Heanue’s Beechmount Lily, by Dooneen Supermatch, from the junior mare class as their champion, with Michael O’Malley’s Banks Timber-sired Cregduff Camilla in reserve. Alan Igoe’s Fairy won both championships in the pony ring where Gillian Torrens was on judging duty.