Susan Finnerty

AIDAN Williamson was probably the ideal candidate to calculate the odds of Hilin Ontario sweeping through the pony section to take the supreme title and the mathematical sciences student was delighted when his yearling filly did exactly that at Bandon last Sunday.

Entries were well up at the West Cork show, where Rosemarie Deasy is a great asset for providing results. The increased pony entries were also noted by Mary Moore who had previously judged here 20 years ago: “The entries were huge which was a pleasant surprise and what I’ve noticed over the last few years, the in-hand, Connemara and mini classes in particular are thriving”.

Nor did the long day affect Williamson’s yearling filly, by the Royal Welsh champion Hilin Carnedd and bought cross-channel last year by his father William as a potential broodmare. A winner at her only other outing at Thomastown, the in-hand champion was also Moore’s supreme choice: “It was a long day for a yearling to sparkle, but she was still smiling at 6.30 in the evening. The reserve [Connemara champion, Be My Star] was a very sweet mare.”

Cyril Carty’s recent treks from Galway to Munster shows have paid off with Be My Star also in the championship ribbons at Tralee the previous Sunday.

Lyndsey O’Brien also added another reserve ridden horse title to Mr Shakespeare’s Tralee form, where the Adare pair stood reserve to Ann O’Grady’s latest find Ballingowan Harmony in more well-filled ridden horse classes.

“A lovely big horse, strong limbs and full of presence” was ride judge Aubrey Chapman’s opinion of O’Grady’s Watermill Swatch four-year-old.

At the start of the production line, Eamon Foran judged the broodmare and foal classes at the Castle Bernard venue, where James Whyte had a good day in the Irish Draught section with his Carrigrua The Whyte Lady and her first foal, by Fintan Himself. John Roche’s Assagart Palace won the foal championship with a Coroner colt out of the Bonnie Prince mare Assagart Jewel. Roche had won the broodmare championship here last year with his Assagart My Only Hope, who went on to win The Irish Field Breeders Championship final at Dublin.

According to Roche, she has also produced a colt by the same Mtoto sire this year and on this occasion, the dairy farmer was took the reserve broodmare title with his former Limerick Lady champion Assagart Mistress, by Kings Master.

Taking this year’s broodmare crown was PJ Lehane’s homebred PJ’s Dream out of another frequent Breeders Championship contender PJ’s Hope. A dual All Ireland champion and Dublin winner for her Clonakilty owner, the Lux Z four-year-old has now moved on to broodmare classes after a highly successful run in young horse classes. In fact, she had stood reserve young horse champion here last year to Ballard Wise Guy who repeated that result on Sunday for owner Seamus Lehane.

By Loughehoe Guy out of a Crosstown Dancer dam, the three-year-old was bought from the Farmers Journal classifieds as a foal and was having his second showring outing of the year, having also won at Tralee.

Lehane enjoyed a Bandon treble with his two pair of entries, the Luidam yearling Kingsmill Formal Affair and his other Loughehoe Guy youngster, the two-year-old gelding Ballard Jackson winning their respective classes.

Kieran O’Gorman is another keen West Cork exhibitor and his homebred Brookfield Royale was Michael Kirwan’s reserve champion choice. By Lux Z, the two-year-old champion is the last foal of O’Gorman’s prolific mare and another former Breeders Championship winner, Kildysart Royale.