THE annual Friends of St Luke’s charity horse and pony show was held last Saturday at the Kilronan Equestrian Centre close to Dublin airport where the Dawson family welcomed an influx of visitors to their Derby field for the second week running.
This show was always a favourite of the late Tiggy Hancock and Tiggy’s Trust once again sponsored the day’s two championships. In a break from the norm, the organisers based their championships on a ‘leaderboard’ basis which saw the combination with the highest score in both sections as the winners; there were no reserves.
Sunday proved to be a red letter day for the Byrne family from Co Meath as here, Katie won the 80cms to 1m Derby championship on the home-bred 15-year-old Gwennic de Goariva mare Fairyhouse Coco while, down at the Millstreet international horse trials, Hugh Kelly landed the CCIP2-L on the dun’s seven-year-old full-sister, Fairyhouse In A Pickle.
Bred at the gates of Fairyhouse racecourse by Katie’s father David, the pair are out of the non-winning thoroughbred mare Supreme Honey (by Supreme Leader) who had three thoroughbred foals when she first went to stud. After that, she produced all traditionally-bred Irish Sport Horses by the ISH stallion Carrick Diamond Lad (one), the Irish Draught stallion Killinick Bouncer (three) and the Connemara stallion Gwennic de Goariva (three).
Fairyhouse Coco was evented for three seasons by Katie’s much-missed sister Anna who also competed her in working hunter classes including at the Horse of The Year Show. Under her present partner, the dun won the traditionally-bred working hunter class at the 2023 Dublin Horse Show.
Byrne and Fairyhouse Coco took Sunday’s championship on the back of their win of the Baldurgan Farm 90cms horse class. Others to have topped the leaderboard in their respective horse classes were Emma Jo Carolan on the 12-year-old Lawman gelding Masterson (Treo Eile 80cms racehorse to riding horse class), Harry Baker on the home-bred eight-year-old Malahow Mirah (Mr and Mrs O’Neill 80cms), a traditionally-bred daughter of L.A. Mirah, and Johanne Donohue with Skye (The Galloping Grannies 1m class).
Going strong
Rachel Westphal won the Lively Ladies 80cms pony class on the well-known 22-year-old Grange King’s Surf mare Clonross Giselle while Mary Kate Duffy did likewise in the Surecampus 90cms pony class on board the Connemara gelding Ballylinn Bruce, a six-year-old bay by Doonard Lad.
A small number of riders at Kilronan had been in action the previous day at the first of this year’s RDS working hunter pony qualifiers at the Banner Equestrian Centre in Co Clare. This group included Rosita Dunne who, for the second year running, won Sunday’s 60cms/70cms Tiggy’s Trust championship on Kells Tattoo, a 26-year-old piebald mare owned by the rider’s grandmother Marita Dunne.
Dunne and Kells Tattoo had earlier repeated their win in the Becky Gibney 60cms pony Derby but, in the Lambay Stud 70cms class they had to settle for second behind Leo Grogan and the 11-year-old skewbald mare Molly M.
The winners of the horse classes were Lee Kelly on Snowball (Dawson family 60cms class), Sophie de Jong with her 16-year-old piebald gelding Kilcogy Knight (Rockton Stud 70cms class) and Marnie Crerar riding the six-year-old Court Cave gelding Do The Math (Treo Eile racehorse to riding horse 70cms Derby).
On a day when Doramics Tiles Ireland sponsored the turn-out prizes, the action opened with the lead rein Derby won by the Rohan Moloney-partnered Clanmill Lady Louna while later in the morning there was a display by the Kilronan RDA Group.