BRITISH owner Paulette Cooper really enjoys Irish shows and will have particularly fond memories of the 2018 Northern Ireland Festival at Cavan EC following the excellent performances of her trio of Louise Lyons-produced and ridden horses over the three days.

Claiming the much-sought after title of Festival supreme working hunter horse champion as the show came to a close on Sunday night was the eight-year-old Classic Vision gelding MJM Laszlo who progressed to the final judging as winner of the morning’s 1.10m section.

The bay, who also won the Horse of the Year Show working hunter qualifier at the Festival, was bred in Co Meath by Janet Murray out of a Touchdown mare who died after foaling him, leaving the colt to be reared by a Connemara mare.

Murray sold MJM Laszlo as a three-year-old at Goresbridge’s September Sale to Lyons and her mother Anne who campaigned him at EI90 and EI100 levels while he also qualified for young event horse championship at Dublin in 2015.

Cooper had bought into the horse at this stage so it was little surprise to see him being produced as a working hunter, a sphere in which he has excelled. Readers will recall MJM Laszlo as being champion worker at Dublin in 2016 and he has already qualified for this year’s working hunter championship at the Royal International Show at Hickstead.

In Sunday’s Festival supreme championship, MJM Laszlo took the honours ahead of Katie Burns’ advanced medium dressage horse Ramazotti’s Love who, on just his third outing as a working hunter, had won the 90cms final under Nathan McCausland.

CHAMPION LADIES

Also heading back to Lyons’s Co Kilkenny yard with sashes and rosettes was Cooper’s First Rate who on Friday was crowned champion ladies’ horse (having won the astride class) and won his 80cms performance hunter class.

On Saturday night the Wallis Birch-bred Obelix gelding won the ridden horse championship having earlier in the day finished second to the Jane Bradbury-ridden Bloomfield Waterfall (a five-year-old Bloomfield Swatch gelding who wasn’t presented for the evening performance) in their hunter class while he was also novice working hunter champion.

Cooper’s third horse at the Festival, Dartans Block Buster (a five-year-old by OBOS Quality 004), was second to First Rate in their performance class. He, like the other pair, will be competing at shows in Ireland and Britain over the summer and recently won a novice working hunter championship across the water.

On behalf of her mother’s good friend, Lady Perdita Blackwood, Lyons also produced Cavallo Irish who had two class wins and a reserve under Charlotte Hurst.

Kildare’s Nicola Perrin, who is a regular exhibitor at the Festival, had a superb result in Sunday night’s Clive Alexander Hair Cutters ridden horse supreme championship.

In this, Perrin partnered the six-year-old Botanica hunter champion Ballarin My Lady (winner of her mares’ and lightweight classes) to take the honours ahead of the bay’s year younger full-sister and stable-companion Ballarin My Grace, winner of the Prime Photography small hunter championship. The Kings Master mares were bred in Co Clare by John Ryan out of the Nash Me mare Seefin Rosewood.