THREE qualifiers for the Pegus Horse Feed performance Irish Draught championship at Balmoral Show (May 13th to 16th) were held in the past week, the first being hosted in beautiful weather by the Stuart family at Gransha Equestrian Centre last Saturday.

The judging duties were split between Angela Fynn and Helen Troughton, with the former assessing those forward on the flat in the younger horse class while Troughton judged the jumping phase. The duo then swapped roles for the six-year-old and upwards division.

Competitors descended on the north Co Down venue from across the country, with Scottish native Duncan McFadyen, who is based at the Milchem Equestrian Centre in Co Galway, winning the four and five-year-old qualifier, while Co Wexford’s Edwina O’Connor was awarded the top mark in the older horses’ class.

According to course designer Adrienne Stuart, around 80% of the competitors came from the south of Ireland, one rider leaving home at 3am. En route to her summer base in Co Kilkenny, Belfast-born Amanda Benson, who had been hunting in England all winter with the Beaufort, arrived from Gloucester on Friday night, finishing ninth the next day in the older horses’ class on Ballingeary Buster.

On a score of 130 marks, O’Connor saw off 13 rivals with her multi-purpose 12-year-old gelding Ashwood Reggie (Keamore Diamond Clover - Beara Lady, by Fast Silver), on whom she landed the championship in 2023. Due to a barn incident with a young horse in the yard in November, O’Connor didn’t get to hunt the David Miley-bred bay in the season just ended and, while in the same breath she said she was going to take it easy this year, she next spoke of plans for the months ahead.

“My first competition back was in the first qualifier at The Meadows, where we finished eighth and, now that we’ve qualified, we certainly will be heading to the final at Balmoral! After that, I’ll think about the Dublin qualifiers. I’m going to do the CT90 combined training class at Barnadown on St Patrick’s Day [which she won] and I might do a few one-day events for a bit of fun!”

Also qualifying by right in this class were Duncan McFadyen with two sons of Gortfree Hero, the seven-year-old Monards Dark Hero (123.5) and the 14-year-old Gortfree Lakeside Lad (122.5). Co Kilkenny’s Jenny Williams claimed the final ticket with her eight-year-old Kiltybane Naldo gelding Ballyrussell Misty (119).

McFadyen’s win in the younger class came on Monessa Keogh’s home-bred four-year-old mare Jacks Bonnie (Clogheen Captain Jack - Bonnie Noreen, by Rebel Mountain), whose performance merited a 130-mark score. This grey had started her competitive career in the Eventing Ireland Western Region combined training series.

Waterford’s Sean Looney finished second with another mare, the Carrickcottage Star five-year-old Ahalative Grey (126), ahead of Co Kilkenny’s Diarmuid Ryan with the highest-placed of his six rides in the 19-runner class, the Clogheen Captain Jack four-year-old Jack Glen Shannon (123.5). Locally-based Gwen Scott bagged her place in the Balmoral final when finishing fourth here on the Inisfree The Holy Grail five-year-old Drynam Cash Is King (119).