POST-Dublin young horse entries nosedive at agricultural shows, so it was interesting to see how many owners would travel to Tydavnet for its inaugural hosting of the All-Ireland three-year-old filly final.

It’s a final that has undergone a ‘Discover Ireland’ tour down through the years, moving from Belturbet to Bantry, Cappamore and Dungarvan. Nine fillies lined out last Saturday at its latest host - a charming, retro-feel country show.

Some 19 qualified for the final and, interestingly, the Irish Shows Association has introduced a €50 penalty for exhibitors who have qualified but fail to show up without advance notice to an All-Ireland final.

On paper, Pat Finn’s Frenchfort Kildysart Lady was the clear favourite, having recently won the Dublin filly and supreme young horse championships. She was reserve in the All-Ireland three-year-old final at Bannow & Rathangan in July, having won All-Ireland filly titles as a yearling and two-year-old.

However, a title isn’t, or shouldn’t be, an automatic guarantee and a quality field was in front of judges Valerie Glass, who has won an abundance of All-Ireland, Balmoral and Dublin championships, and globetrotting Kevin McGuinness, whose overseas engagements include New Zealand and South Africa.

The pair pinned Frenchfort Kildysart Lady at the top of their preliminary lineup and, although they looked closely at another candidate for a possible promotion, left their original order as was.

“You found the minute she came into the ring, you’re comparing her to the rest. She was the one who stood out,” McGuinness said afterwards.

“She’s all quality, she moved when she was asked to move and I’d like to see her under saddle. It’s nice to follow a horse that you’ve put up in championships anywhere and see where they go on. I think as well that, regardless of where a horse has been before or after finals, if we’re judging to a standard and we’re judging consistently, the cream should always come to the top,” added his co-judge.

The champion was bred in Kildysart by Gerard Grace and is by the Chellano Z son Chelis HC Z, while her dam Rusheen Lux was a consistent prizewinner for her owner-breeder. Tiernan Gill, who has bounced back from his triple bypass surgery, was back on duty showing Finn’s filly, having handed over the reins in the meantime to Philippa Scott.

Home-bred

Standing reserve was Monaghan-born Yvonne Pearson’s home-bred Double Act. “This was one of our local shows,” she said about the host venue. Her filly is by Centre Stage and out of Anthony Gordon’s prolific winner Kief Queen B (Munther), who won the Coote Cup broodmare championship for Yvonne. Double Act stood third in the Bannow open final.

Third place went to the Burchill family’s Haven Hi Hope, who like her owner-breeders, had an early start to travel from West Cork to the Border counties. By Just Be Gentle’s sire Tyson and out of the Ghareeb dam Slatequarry Sasha (the winning mare for former owner Paula Howard in The Irish Field Breeders’ Championship in 2016), she herself appeared in the 2022 final at Dublin with her dam.

Fourth was Donegal owner Anne McFarland’s Kingston Callisto (VDL Orestus x Limmerick) from the damline of Heike Holstein’s Tokyo Olympic dressage mare Sambucca.

Tara Esler’s Coolin Lady C (Centennial x Aughrim Knight) was the highest-placed traditional-bred in fifth and sixth place went to Davy Lyons’ Royal Pleasure (Another Pleasure x Loughehoe Guy).

Overjoyed

“I’m absolutely overjoyed that Frenchfort Kildysart Lady won the ‘Triple crown’ in All-Ireland filly finals!” Pat Finn commented. “Her continued success over the past three years has truly been a dream come true, an amazing journey. She’s brought us so many enjoyable days and, through her, great friendships have been made.

“I’m incredibly proud to own this beautiful filly, bred by my good friend Gerard Grace from Kildysart and so thankful to Tiernan Gill and his team for showing her since she was a yearling.”

At the start of his showring journey was nine-year-old Sam Campbell. The local lad won the in-hand pony championship with his skewbald pony Lala, bought a year ago. “He was the youngest child in both classes and it was his first time showing his pony. Sam is an active member of Monaghan Pony Club and regularly attends their rallies, which has taught them so much. They’re a real partnership,” said his proud mother Aileen.

A great endorsement of their local Pony Club that also provided a display in the rolling show fields. Weather is a dealbreaker for outdoor shows, but Tydavnet caught a lucky break last Saturday. “We’ve been washed out of it for several years, but just look at the sunshine today!” Paula Loughran, show chairperson, said.