RYDER Cup countdown is well and truly on around Co Limerick, with 468 days to go to its start at Adare Manor. Newcastle West Show’s 2027 date is still to be decided, although the nearby show involves its own level of detailed planning.

All shows try to find that non-clash ‘sweet date’. For the previous two years, Newcastle West was fortunate that five Sundays fell in June and so the West Limerick show could slot into the pre-Charleville weekend.

A June bank holiday Monday date this year worked out surprisingly well. “We’re having a meeting next week to debrief,” said show chairman Liam Ruttle. “The Ballybunion exodus from Newcastle West hasn’t quite started yet!” referring to that other rival on a sunny show day; a trip to the seaside.

It was plain sailing in the hunter championship for the cleverly-named All Gussied Up, Jane Davis and Willie Corrigan’s choice. Winner of the lightweight class, the five-year-old by the Diarado son Jorado is owned by Clare expat James Keogh.

“I bought him from his breeder Gus Walsh in Ardmore on behalf of James. The main target is Dublin and he’ll get a few more outings before then,” said Rosemary Connors, the champion’s producer-rider.

“Needless to say, we are very excited about his future. Rosemary has been unbelievably patient with him and has always been very positive about him,” added James, an Irish National Stud management graduate, whose Grovendale Sales business is based in Lexington.

All Gussied Up: both the Newcastle West hunter champion, produced by Rosemary Connors and the showrings with the new Skye Box \ Susan Finnerty

Standing reserve was Aidan Ryan’s middleweight winner: FJK Z Future, by Future Trend, bred by Fergal King.“William would be a stickler for conformation and I’d be a stickler that they also have to perform, behave and ride well. Your first line-up is really important and I really enjoy getting to ride other people’s horses,” said Jane, Head of Equine Marketing at Red Mills.

“It’s very simple what we’re asking a show horse to do: walk, trot, canter, maybe lengthen our gallop on both reins but it’s the work it actually takes to get them to do that well. I think that’s the beauty of showing: you’ve those real fundamental foundations in place for horses, either to continue their career showing or to go on to other disciplines.”

The top-placed four-year-old was Teresa O’Donoghue’s TIH grey Suaimhneas (WRS Sunrich) and qualifying for the amateur section of the Connolly’s Red Mills Champion of Champions final, now in its eighth year, were the O’Brien sisters; Lyndsey with the pure-bred Irish Draught Mr Bloomfield, bred by Peter McHugh and Suzanne with Munther’s Ranger (Munther).

“No fighting!”

Ride judge Emily Woods had another busy day in the saddle in the ridden horse classes, in their new arena. She and conformation judge Maurice Coleman picked out PLS Amaretto as their ridden horse champion.

Having ridden both ‘Flicka’ - the champion’s stable name - and her dam, Seren Fassnidge is well acquainted with the family. “‘Flicka’ is owned by a good friend of ours, Helena Letman, who lives in London, so she has become like one of my own horses!

“She lives on the family beef farm and lives out 24/7 for a majority of the year in a small herd with my other horses. She only gets ridden three or four times a week and this normally consists of finding a field without cows and just hacking around. We keep it very low pressure!

“I adore her; she’s a real girl’s horse, and she is making so many of my dreams come true. I really am so privileged to ride her,” she said about the Grand Marnier mare, bred by William McDonnell Jnr at Pallas Stud.

My Friend Flicka: Seren Fassnidge and the ridden horse champion PLS Amaretto (Flicka) booked their place in the Red Mills Champion of Champions final \ Susan Finnerty

Reserve, for a second year in a row in the Newcastle West ridden horse championship, was Charlotte Kelly on her mother Tara Hudson’s Hudsons Mermus (Mermus R), bred by Thomas Moore. This pair also qualified for the Champion of Champions final.

Transition Year student Charlotte, deputising for her older sister Penny, sidelined with a broken arm, praised her sister for how well-schooled their home-produced mare is.

The third ride judge at Newcastle West was Alice Copithorne. She was teamed up with Tipperary Foxhounds huntsman Gavin Shorten to judge the working hunter and in-hand horses. Both their champion and reserve came from the amateur working hunter class: Anne Nixon’s experienced all-rounder It’s Miller Time (Prince of Thieves) and Nicola Collins’ Skew Lady.

Gavin, whose late grandfather Jack stood the famous Stan The Man before the thoroughbred stallion’s sale to the Marbach State Stud, was back to his Limerick roots. “We had a very good season hunting and start again on the October Bank Holiday weekend. Glad to be asked to judge and there was a nice quality of horses here today. I couldn’t ask for a better co-judge too, no fighting!

“I’d remember very little about Stan The Man to be honest, I’d have been very little, but he had a great temperament,” he recalled about the sire of Olympic individual gold medal winners, the German-bred La Biosthetique Sam FBW and Shear L’Eau (bred by Edward Walsh).

“Like a dog!”

Brought back last year by ‘demand’, the Newcastle West young horse classes had sparse entries. There was a total of five in the three classes, par for the course now at many shows.

The following pure-bred Draught mare and foal classes, sponsored by the Irish Draught Horse Society, had three entries. For an area renowned for stallions, such as Croagh Leader, Sandyhill Boy and Western Light, plus a host of Greenvale championship mare greats, it was disappointing.

Those who did turn up to support the in-hand classes were the Murphy family, who travelled from Co Mayo with their home-bred yearling gelding by their own thoroughbred stallion Singing N’Dancing, sourced from Jim Bolger. Barnaview Misty River (Chillout), the champion’s dam, was a Dublin winner in her youngstock days.

Standing reserve for a second year was Sean Duggan, this year with his home-bred Heatherside Lagans Prince (Lagans OBOS Quality). This two-year-old gelding was also the reserve young horse champion at the opening show of the agricultural show season: Newmarket on Fergus.

Kim Scott’s Mountscribe Minerva (WRS Elvis) and Elizabeth Deane Cogan’s Baltydaniel Romeo colt foal won the red rosettes in the following mare and foal classes.

Earlier in the morning, Nicholas Byrne had a happy bunch of competitors in the family pony section, when the same ring was filled with mannerly four-legged schoolmasters and adorable Thelwells.

His Deelside Saddlery champion was lead rein class winner Treowen Ranger, with young Darragh Liston aboard and the reserve champion was Nora Murphy’s first ridden winner, Strawberry.

Treowen Ranger and Bronheulog Sunny Boy are both out on loan from the Ruttle family. Bronheulog Sunny Boy, now with the Palmer family, won the starter stakes title last Monday and the saintly bay was lined up in front of Byrne and his pony judge cohorts to select their Newcastle West supreme champion pony from.

Where It All Begins: Robert Liston and his son Darragh with the 30-years young Treowen Ranger \ Susan Finnerty

Charlotte Kelly’s good fortune continued when Hudson’s Lucarelli Rosa was called forward by the judges as their supreme. By Drumhowan Stud’s 2024 Croker Cup champion Lucarelli, the five-year-old was bred by Finola Heslin.

The same pair had also won both the show hunter and intermediate titles to make it a Kildare treble after their day in Limerick. Bought in 2025 as a just-backed four-year-old, Charlotte described Rosa as “like a dog! She follows everyone around and likes to open the back door of the house and waits until she is given an apple. She is a pony of a lifetime.”

“My kind of animal,” remarked co-judge Sharon Fitton about their supreme champion choice.

Feral turns good

Reserve supreme was the Connemara champion: Breaffy Arthur (Dunally Lad), ridden by Lili Stapleton’s daughter, Isobelle.

“Myself and Dominic Furnell bought him as a feral, gangly just-turned four-year-old. He jumped out of the paddock we viewed him in on the first viewing and galloped off down the road, floating around. I knew he was what we wanted, looked at a horrified Dom and said, ‘Yes, he’s for me!’

“We brought him on slowly and he’s since been out cubbing, hunted with the Limerick Harriers and been schooled at the unaffiliated events in Ballycahane. His first-ever show was Limerick last year, winning the open ridden Connemara.”

This year’s placings include three other reserve championships at the Garranemore IPS Winter Woollies, Limerick Harriers spring show and Newmarket on Fergus.

No price sticker on this grey prize winner. “He’s just a lovely boy, an absolute saint. He will be kept for the next siblings coming up!”

More red sash winners throughout the day included Ayda O’Sullivan’s Crumpwell Blue Rupert (Crumpwell Lewis), Lilly Donohoe’s Wytchwood Honey Kitten (Cusop Dimension), Emily Casey’s Lawkholme Apollo (Churchwood Troy) and Isobel Hurley’s Frenchfort Snow (Moorland Snowy River), the respective mini, show pony, mini working hunter and working champions.

The reserve champions in the same sections were Tara Rocca Houlihan’s Bronheulog Gold Dust (mini), Amelia Palmer’s Torcardiz Arbennig Arum (mini working hunter), Emily Palmer’s Golden Grove Right Answer (show pony), Sasha Smith McAuliffe’s Lindeth Question Mark (show hunter), Anne Nixon’s Cornfield Fusion (Connemara), Emily Casey’s Tooreigh Long (starter stakes), Margaret Greene’s Moonlite Gone With The Wind (working hunter) and Grainne Fitzpatrick’s Alexandra’s Sunshine Girl (intermediate),

“I don’t think the numbers were too bad today really,” said Carole Adams, the third supreme co-judge. Meanwhile, Jane Darragh carried on judging the performance pony classes, where entries were bouyant.

“I had good numbers, which is great to see because the shows this year haven’t been good numbers-wise. I think that’s because everything’s expensive nowadays, especially diesel. And we’re a little bit picky, whereas before we got caught up, we might go to two shows in a week. Now we go to just one, so it’s cutting back in general, but we’ve had lovely weather and a fantastic day.”

Her performance champion was Abbie Conway Thompson’s Lightning Lad and Sasha Schep’s 60cm class winner Bambi’s Boy stood reserve.

The rearranged showring layout, with ample ringside benches, worked very well this year. Horse show jumping classes moved to a separate field, which meant that even Jane Darragh had finished judging by 5pm, while the supreme pony championship was decided an hour earlier.

“We have the field almost returned to pasture,” Liam Ruttle reported on Tuesday evening.

“Newcastle West Show 2026 will be remembered for all the right reasons; weather was kind, entertainment was aplenty, competition was healthy and our show committee was very happy. As chairman, what more could I ask for?”

The committee, including Seán McAuliffe, who has delivered the only set of showing results for this week’s issue, have another upcoming event on Monday, June 29th. That’s the date for the RDS potential event horse qualifier, hosted in Clonshire EC.

Around the ringside

  • Cancelled three years ago due to bad weather, followed by a pre-El Niño heatwave two years ago and a day of downpours last year, the show crowds enjoyed the ideal weather mix this time. Bar a couple of rain showers, the day was perfect.
  • Pony judge Nicholas Byrne was amused to hear about the numerous enquiries received since about one of his Aberdeen Angus cows. The Newmarket on Fergus show report mentioned how, between classes, he was checking in on the in-calf cow, via a camera link on his phone. “She had a beautiful bull calf since, that we’re all very happy with!” was the update. “This is about my fifth or sixth time judging at Newcastle West, but my third in the new showground. It’s a lovely show, with lovely people and I had great stewards to work with.”
  • James Carey demonstrated a similar phone watch set-up he and wife Fionnuala have for keeping watch over their Timaru Kennels in Croom, where they rehome retired greyhounds in new homes across Ireland and further afield to Italy and the United States. The couple spent their day off stewarding in the Newcastle West ridden horse ring and were back to work on Tuesday, which, appropriately was International Greyhound Day.
  • “JP McManus had another winner” isn’t a rare sentence. Following Birchdale’s red ribbons with Abbie Shannon at the Kingdom County Show, it was Tom Busteed and Chantry House (Yeats) that won the Treo Eile Racehorse to Riding Horse class at Newcastle West. Bred locally by Michael Conaghan at Evergreen Stud, the 12-year-old was in training with Nicky Henderson during his racing career and topped the Tattersalls Ireland December Sale eight years ago when sold for £295,000.
  • The proximity of Monday’s show to the start of the Leaving Cert meant fewer faces amongst exhibitors and junior committee members, including Nathan Ruttle. He won the show hunter pony lead rein class on Treowen Ranger at Dublin in 2018 and, since then, the schoolmaster pony has gone to various families, most recently to the Liston family in Cappagh. “Treowen Ranger is in his 30th year, he’s deeply loved and hacks up and down the farm where he lives now. He’s on loan, we never sold any pony that was over 15 after they were so good to us,” said his dad, Liam.
  • A show chairman with a marquee business is a huge asset. In addition to the usual Party Time marquees dotted around the show fields, the double-decker Skye Box, a state-of-the-art commentary box, made its Newcastle West debut.
  • The bubbly and strawberries in the hospitality tent had less to do with Wimbledon and more with past shows. Ann O’Grady explained that the tradition began at the Rathfredagh Gymkhana, when several judges would request strawberries and cream and bring their own tipple to add to the atmosphere.
  • By last year’s later show date, Alice Copithorne had just returned from Luhmühlen, where she and Fort Arthur Little Dolly finished 21st on their five-star debut. The pair also completed Pau last autumn and are planning their Burghley CCI5* debut in September.
  • Jane Davis had her own ‘three-day event’ over the weekend. “I did a one-day-event in Glenpatrick on Saturday with my thoroughbred [Tiffany’s Gold], our second EI100 amateur and then yesterday was our local show in Raheendaw.” As well as the popular Champion of Champions series, it’s the 16th year of Connolly’s Red Mills sponsoring the Munster Grand Prix show jumping league. “It’s going really well, it’s always so well supported and it’s a stepping stone for all those nice young horses that come out of Munster. It’s a lovely bridge before they step up.”
  • The Croker Cup was presented to the RDS by the late Edward Croker from Ballynagarde House, near Lough Gur. This year’s supreme champion pony was by the Croker Cup champion Lucarelli, while another Croker Cup (broodmare champion) is also part of Limerick Show’s silverware.