THE fifth and final qualifier for the Pegus Horse Feed performance Irish Draught championship at Balmoral Show (May 13th to 16th) was held last Sunday at Tubberbride Stables in Co Sligo, where it was run in conjunction with the fourth leg of the Eventing Ireland Western Region starter series.

For the second Sunday in a row, Craughwell’s Maria McNamara topped the scores in the four and five-year-old division on a grey belonging to her father Tom, Shanbally Pippalo Pat (Cappa Aristocrat - Roundtown Blue, by All The Diamonds). The grey was bred in Co Galway by Martin Donnellan, from whom McNamara purchased him as a three-year-old.

Shanbally Pippalo Pat, who is highly regarded by his owner, was third in his four-year-old heavyweight hunter class at both Balmoral and Dublin last season and, between times, was crowned all-Ireland ridden hunter champion at Ardrahan Show. There, he also won his four-year-old class, the ridden Irish Draught class and went on to claim the show’s riding horse title.

The judges for the two classes were Caroline Moran (dressage and conformation) and Philip Scott (performance), who here had Shanbally Pippalo Pat on a table-topping score of 110.5 points. Co Meath’s Nadine Dunne qualified in second in this 19-runner class (109.1) on board the John Giblin-bred four-year-old gelding Woody Bounce (DS Ballagher Bouncer - Diamond Starlight, by All The Diamonds).

The other two horses who qualified by right on 108.3 and 105.3 respectively were the Alanna Linden-ridden, Francis Murtagh-bred five-year-old gelding Burrenhill Dubby (Heigh Ho Dubh - Millhollow Molly, by Crannagh Hero) and the Claire Sheerin-partnered four-year-old home-bred mare Myhighfield Lady Tori (Tors Gentleman Farmer - Highfield Finn Bell, by Fintan Himself), who both incurred four penalties in the performance phase.

On a score of 129.9 points, Milchem Equestrian-based Becky Scott recorded a runaway victory in the six-year-old and upwards class with Sean Barker’s 14-year-old stallion Gortfree Lakeside Lad (Gortfree Hero - Springvale Rose, by Ginger Dick). Unfortunately, as advised in the Balmoral conditions, a maximum of three stallions may compete in each class in the final and, as the quota for the older class had been filled before Sunday, Scott and Gortfree Lakeside Lad failed to secure a qualifying ticket.

Co Mayo’s Amy Grady thus claimed the first qualifying slot in second (119) with the six-year-old Murrisk Paudie (Farmhill Highlander - Ashlawn Star, by Agherlow), who is owned by her granduncle Michael Grady, breeder of the grey. This combination won the four and five-year-old qualifier here last year and went on to finish fifth in the final at Balmoral. They also qualified (at Rincoola) for Dublin, where they placed fourth.

Co Down’s Victoria Clarke, who had been in action at Tyrella on Saturday, will also be heading back to Balmoral having finished third (116.5) with the six-year-old Derrick Jones-bred gelding Whitegate Zidane (Young Zidane - Whitegate Sunrise, by Purple Son). Alan McNulty secured a qualifying ticket in fourth (116.4) with the eight-year-old John Trearty-bred gelding Lackyle Gorgeous George (Beechmore Silver Crest - White Goose, by Star Kingdom).

The last qualifying ticket for the performance Irish Draught championship at Balmoral 2026 was awarded to the well-known combination of Co Wicklow’s Alicia Devlin Byrne and her nine-year-old John O’Connor-bred The Kings Silver (WRS Elvis - Lisrobin Lady, by Fast Silver). There were 17 entries in this class with the organisers being pleased with the numbers overall given that this was the final qualifier.

The two Pegus Horse Feed performance Irish Draught classes at Balmoral will be judged by Matt McGivern, John Gilliver and Simone Hession in the Main Arena on Thursday, May 14th, starting at 8am and followed by the championship. Riders may ride a maximum of two horses in each class.

The title was won last year by Dermot Molloy’s much-admired and since exported chesnut gelding Two Mile Nigel, winner of the four and five-year-old class under Diarmuid Ryan, with Emma Jackson standing reserve on Janice Reddy’s winner of the older horses’ class, the stallion Ardnacashel Monarch. This 2016 grey, who again qualified at The Meadows for this year’s final, is a full-brother of the aforementioned Lackyle Gorgeous George.