SIX weeks after the first qualifier for the racehorse to riding horse class at the Gallagher Dublin Horse Show was held at the Northern Ireland Festival in Cavan, the second of six was staged last Saturday at the Armagh County Agricultural Show in Gosford Forest Park.

Only the winner of the open class at each of the qualifying venues is invited to compete at Dublin and, on Saturday, that was the 10-year-old gelding Bobby Cool (Alhebayeb - Headford Lady, by Bold Fact). The attractive grey was partnered on Saturday by Co Meath-based Miia Ruuskanen, who often shares the ride on the winner with his breeder, Liisa Rantamaki.

The pair’s success in the racehorse qualifier, which was judged by Lesley Jones (ride) and Patricia Hoey (conformation), came after they had first won their small riding horse class and gone champion in that ring. At the previous weekend’s Association of Irish Riding Clubs’ Festival in Mullingar, where they represented Rathangan, they finished second in their riding horse class on the Saturday and won their ridden thoroughbred class on the Sunday. Over the two days, they were also placed in The Irish Field dressage section of the Festival.

In 2024, Ruuskanen, who is a native of Finland, and Cool Bobby placed third in the racehorse to riding horse class at the famed Ballsbridge showgrounds, but they didn’t qualify last year and, instead, competed in the small riding horse class. They just might appear in both in August. When trained by Andrew McNamara, Bobby Cool finished well down the field in six runs on the flat as a three-year-old in 2019, being retired in October that year, having pulled up on his only outing over hurdles.

With just one ticket on offer, it’s most frustrating to finish second, but such was the fate of the more locally-based Chloe Connon with Jamie Quinn’s six-year-old bay gelding Largy Texas (Libertarian - Sweetbriar Rose, by Dushyantor), who won this qualifier last year and finished second in Dublin.