FIRST held in 1990, when it was won by the late Michael Skehan’s Ballinvella gelding, the winner of this year’s Ballinasloe Horse of the Fair lunging competition was Danielle Cusack and Michael Egan’s MD Sandyhill Candy Z.

The Sligo Candy Boy three-year-old is out of an Aldatus Z dam and capped a great summer for the engaged couple from Mayo, who also owned this year’s Dublin Horse Show The Irish Field Breeders Championship winning combination Hallowberry Destiny and her Clonaslee Captain Cristo colt.

Going to Ballinasloe is a tradition for Con Keohane’s whose journey from West Cork was rewarded by the runner-up prize with his Pointilliste gelding out of a Kennedys Clover dam and closer to home, local Charles Conlon owned the third-placed prizewinner.

Wexford man Henry Foley won the Pony of the Fair final which has produced a number of good performance ponies, ahead of Laura Geraghty and Paul Cleary’s entries.

Despite a clash with a foal sale in Mullingar, the fair green still attracted a good crowd last Saturday for the final day. With the showgrounds in use as a carpark, the Fair and Festival committee’s traditional Country Fair Day showing classes were held in the lunging arena.

Liam Cotter selected Michael McDonagh’s Future Trend filly out of a Ghareeb dam, as his champion foal choice. The reserve went to Martin O’Neill’s pure-bred Draught foal, by the Gurraun Zidane son, Ceide Prince.

Margaret Cotterell won both the Irish Draught mare class and best-turned-out prize with her mare Shirwell Jewel. Tynagh owner Michael McDonagh’s dam of his champion foal doubled up in the broodmare class, ahead of another Ghareeb mare owned by Enda Briscoe and Colm Greene’s Clew Bay Bouncer colt won his class.