SEVERAL recent winners of The Irish Field Breeders’ Championship have expressed disappointment over its removal from Dublin Horse Show’s schedule and its replacement by an Elite Show Jumping Foal Sale. First held in 1985, the combination broodmare and foal championship became an iconic event for exhibitors.

The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) said the decision to drop the Breeders’ Championship was not “taken lightly”. The lack of high-performance mares and foals with five-star pedigree entries was cited as the main reason.

Last year’s eventing section winning owner, Martin Murphy, said that the class will “be sadly missed”.

“It’s a shame to see such a prestigious class not being held in the RDS any more,” he said. “It was a great class for the small breeder to show off foals, possibly get it sold. It was one of the highlights of the year for me to qualify for the Breeders’, and the Breeders’ had a great history of top horsemen and horses.”

Valerie Davis, who won the 2025 show jumping section, felt the decision was a “massive blow”.

“To have won this class was a dream come true for my family and myself, from the first qualifier, the excitement and pride of saying, ‘My mare has qualified for the Breeders’.’

“The loss of this Friday morning nail-biting hour is a major blow to the small breeders and spectators, which may also have a huge impact on mare and foal entries. I fear the future of in-hand showing at our country’s biggest show could be in doubt.”

Pat Finn, who bred both winning mares last year, said he felt that replacing the Breeders’ Championship with a foal auction “fundamentally alters the purpose of the platform. I also struggle to see the logic in auctioning foals at the RDS when an auction of three-year-olds would make far more sense. Three-year-olds are ready to be assessed, ready to progress, and far better suited to the international customers who attend the RDS each year.”

Richard Drohan, a winning owner in 2023, said: “Hopefully, the RDS powers-that-be will now move the mare and foal classes to the Friday morning slot. Anyone who has stood around Ring 1, as the clock chimes 12 and the sense of anticipation builds, knows this was one of the most viewed and supported classes.”

“It (the cancellation) is another blow to smaller breeders and producers in Ireland,” Des McDonnell commented. “My family and I have competed in this class for many years, having won it twice. Another once-off, closed door selection process, removed from the wider community, disconnected from the agricultural shows that help to form the backbone of Irish horse community,” he added.

“If my memory serves me correctly, I have never missed a year competing in the Breeders’ Championship. I’ve competed in the class when it was held in Ring 1, Ring 2, the main arena, in a cage and around a triangle,” said Derry Rothwell, another multiple winner.

“I think it is a big blow to the RDS, to the Irish breeder and to stallion owners. It was a crowd-puller on Friday, with spectators drawn in by the excitement and spectacle. From inside the ring, the depth of the crowd was phenomenal, a testament to the class’s enduring appeal over the years.

“Perhaps a better fit would have been a sale alongside the three-year-old loose performance classes. To me, ‘The Royal Dublin Society Horse Show and Sale’ simply doesn’t have the same ring.”