Susan Finnerty

TIERNAN Gill had said back at Westport Show how his family and longtime friend Felim Clarke had always planned to buy a horse together and that investment was rewarded at Kildysart when their Flogas Liqueur won the All Ireland two-year-old filly championship.

“Somebody from Mayo has to win one!” said Ballina exhibitor Gill about the county’s latest All Ireland win, compared to their football team’s Croke Park record.

Ten, out of 15 qualified, fillies lined out before judges Pat Fleming and Maurice Wafer in the Clare Oil, Banner Contractors & Kildysart Show-sponsored final.

This year’s champion won at Dublin as a yearling, where she was bought last year from Ann and Willie Lyons, and again just two weeks ago. She is by the Irish Sport Horse stallion Barnaby Flight, who stood with Eric Atkinson, and her sire was by the Croker Cup champion thoroughbred, Young Barnaby out of a Laughtons Flight dam. Her own dam Greenhall Last Web was by the thoroughbred Weavers Web and interestingly, all top-three fillies were traditionally-bred and from bloodlines retained by their breeders.

Initially pulled in second, Flogas Liqueur swapped places with the eventual reserve Kilcahill Zara, owned by Tom Newell, in the final order. Newell’s reserve champion, by Financial Reward, is the fourth generation of All Ireland prizewinners bred by the Claregalway family. She is out of his Colin Diamond dam, Kilcahill Diamond, herself a former All Ireland filly foal champion.

Colin Diamond is also the sire of Susanne Kelly’s third-placed Susie’s Diamond Miss, a consistent winner on this year’s circuit for her connections. Another with a lengthy pedigree, going back to homebred mares by Master Imp, Nad El Sheba and El Teide, she was also a well-deserved winner of the best-turned-out prize for her connections.

Derry Rothwell had an outstanding day at the West Clare Show as he not only bred Gill’s All Ireland champion and Joan Connor’s fifth-placed Greenhall Granuaile, but he also won the lucrative Dublin Coach young horse championship with his three-year-old filly Greenhall Push Button. She is one of a long line of Rothwell-breds to be bought by the Lyons and later returned to their Tinahely base as a future broodmare.

Another by Financial Reward, her former Limerick Matron winning dam Greenhall Diamond Lady, by Diamond Lady, has been a regular The Irish Field Breeders Championship finalist. Marion Condren and Richard Rohan had a strong line-up of age division champions to select from but stuck with their three-year-old reserve champion Queen B as their reserve supreme choice. The Munther-sired filly had her All Ireland crowning moment last year at Kildysart when she won this final, part of Horse Sport Ireland’s national showing series.

Brian Cleary salvaged some West Clare pride when he won the foal championship with a very smart Harlequin du Carel colt on his first day out and later in the day, won the lunging class with his Radolin three-year-old.

Standing reserve in the foal championship was John Roche’s Coroner filly and the lorryload of Assagart horses returned home to Foulksmills with a number of Kildysart prizes. These included Patricia Hoey and Tim Wilson’s broodmare champion choice Assagart Mistress, by Kings Master and their Dublin champion Assagart Kingstead Fiona, winner of the Irish Draught mare class last Saturday. Their Laidlaw Cup reserve Assagart Lord Lancer, whose own dam Assagart My Only Hope won the All Ireland final here in her two-year-old days, stood as the two-year-old champion while Gerry Mullins won the other youngstock title with his yearling winner Electric Moment, bought from his good friend Anthony Gordon. The reserve broodmare title went to Stephen Culliney’s Abi, yet another All Ireland former titleholder as the Abdullah mare won the 2008 final here for her breeder Kieran O’Gorman. Coincidentally, the reserve in that year’s final was the Wafer brother’s prolific Dublin winner Miss Conci, by Ghareeb.