THE well-known King Flagmount, now in the ownership of his longterm rider Alicia Devlin Byrne, landed the EcoTrack & Access performance ridden Irish Draught championship for the Windmill Stud trophy in the Main Arena of Balmoral Park last Thursday.

The section was judged by Britain’s Sue Stewart (flat) and the home-based pair of Michael Kirwan (conformation) and Aubrey Chapman (ride) with the last-named saying: “There was a lot of quality in the two classes but, as you would expect, some of the four-year-olds were quite green.

“Ms Stewart remarked that riders threw away a lot of marks away by not riding the correct movements. The top-placed horses in both classes were very good,” concluded the Wexford horseman.

Runner-up recently in the HOYS qualifier at the Northern Ireland Festival in Cavan, the Denis Clynes-bred King Flagmount is a 10-year-old chesnut gelding by Welcome Flagmount out of the Ginger Dick mare Spring Days.

Second to Devlin Byrne’s mount in the class, and also reserve champion, was Shanbally Blazer, ridden by Caughwell’s Maria McNamara for her father Tom. Third in his performance class last year at the RDS and in his heavyweight class here on Wednesday, the six-year-old grey by Gentle Diamond was bred in Co Armagh by James Stewart out of the Clover Hill mare Mill Hollow Clover.

Devlin Byrne is producing a new Irish Draught for King Flagmount’s previous owner, Alan Brodigan, but Prince Flagmount, a near black son of Shenandoah Prince Holly, could only finish fourth on Thursday in the four-year-old class to the Niamh Grimes-partnered Pagestown Harmony.

That Crosstown Dancer mare was listed in the ownership of Samantha Fitzsimons but also claiming a leg in the chesnut are Grimes, Michael Fitzsimons and Marie Clare Travers. Champion in-hand last year at Royal Meath and the Laois Branch Show, Pagestown Harmony was bred in Kilcloon, Co Meath by Aiden Travers out of the Pride of Glenogra mare Liskillen Harmony, dam also of 2013 champion cob at HOYS, The Comedian (by Welcome Flagmount).

“We’re hoping to qualify Pagestown Harmony for the four and five-year-old performance Irish Draught class at Dublin so her next outing will be the first qualifier in Scarteen on May 28th,” said Samantha. “Hopefully she’ll follow in the footsteps of Bright Like A Diamond who qualified as a four and five-year-old and won the class for us at five. We plan to retain the mare for breeding.”

The second-placed four-year-old was another by the much-missed Crosstown Dancer, Gransha Cuhullian whose rider, Vicky Teuton, had such a good show. The grey gelding, who was bred in Co Down, is out of the Rebelara mare Kensons Meghan.

Only five of the nine entries in the four-year-old class appeared on Thursday with seven of the 37 horses in the five-year-old and upwards division failing to meeting their engagement.