COMBINATIONS had to qualify for two of the horse performance championships at last week’s Balmoral Show but not for Friday’s long-established working hunter championship which remains as highly-competitive as ever.

The courses were built by a very busy Adrienne Stuart and the classes were judged by Andrew Bowie and Amy Kinane whose champion came from the four-year-old class while the reserve had topped their line-up the five and six-year-old section.

Both Irish Sport Horse geldings are owned by Ballyclare’s Jayne McConnell and her champion, Sinatra, was ridden by Gwen Scott who, on Wednesday, had partnered the bay to win his four-year-old lightweight class in Horse Ring 1. A son of Mermus R, Sinatra was bred by Teresa Walsh out of the Passion mare Castlemorris Passion.

Over from Co Galway, Scottish native Duncan McFayden finished second in the class with Jenny and Richard Jakeman’s Marmaduke (Gortfree Curious George – Cloonlagheen True Heart, by Gortfree Hero), a chesnut Irish Draught gelding bred by Zoe Gallagher.

As his name would suggest, McConnell’s reserve champion, the Ben Rainey-ridden Greenhall Dark Knight, a five-year-old by Dignified van’t Zorgvliet, was bred in Co Wicklow by Derry Rothwell out of the Financial Reward mare Greenhall Push Button. She rounded off her ridden career by being crowned champion hunter mare, champion lightweight and reserve supreme in the Main Arena at Dublin in 2019 when ridden and produced by P.J. Casey.

In this class, Scott finished second on board Eugene Milligan’s five-year-old ISH gelding Honeycomb Quality (OBOS Quality 004 – Derg Royal Imp, by Master Imp) who was bred in Co Limerick by Aideen and Owen Kirby. This combination finished third in their Balmoral Star of the Future final on Friday morning.

The two horses who went through to the championship from the seven-year-old and upwards class were Jessica Knowles Simpson’s 10-year-old ISH gelding Pinecroft Jedburgh (Womanizer – Miss Amir, by Amiro M) who was ridden by Rory Lavery and Lady Perdita Blackwood’s well-known eight-year-old grey gelding Clandeboye who fared better in the performance ID class.

Co Meath’s Joy Murray won the Spillers-sponsored cob working hunter class on her 14-year-old bay gelding Bee Smooth and the aforementioned Ben Rainey was presented with the George Boyd memorial trophy following his win in the very well-filled small horse section on Sarah Carlile’s Altona Sly Mist Bouncer (Killinick Bouncer – Holy Cross Misty, by Holycross), a seven-year-old ID mare.