RATHANGAN’s Nicola Perrin won her third Connolly’s Red Mills Showing Ireland champion of champions hunter final at the Wicklow Show in Barnadown last Sunday, this time with the Irish Sport Horse gelding Rathmorrissey Lord Of The Dance.

The six-year-old dark bay gelding by Castleforbes Lord Lancer is owned by Keith Martin and Kate Boyce of Aughrim Stables and was bred in Co Galway by Jack Freeney out of a mare with no recorded pedigree. Perrin will be heading back to Dublin with the gelding for the third time next month. In 2023, she partnered him to win his age class and finish reserve champion middleweight and reserve champion four-year-old. He got “a bit buzzy” in his class last August and finished fourth.

Rathmorrissey Lord Of The Dance qualified for Sunday when winning the hunter championship at Newcastle West and again at Charleville where he topped the final line-up in his class, won the hunter championship and was supreme ridden champion. He is due to appear at next weekend’s Tattersalls Ireland July Show before heading to Dublin.

Assisted as ever by partner Rob Jeffares, Perrin qualified five horses for Barnadown but only brought three including her own Ballarin Babette, a four-year-old Portlaoise First Tuch mare who, out of a Boherdeal Clover mare, finished second in the ridden horse final. “I very nearly did the double but she had a bit of a green moment with the judge,” commented Perrin. “Peanut is heading for the small riding horse class at Dublin and I think she is a great prospect for the future.”

Ridden horse championship

Third in that hunter final with Judith and Russ Cowley’s five-year-old home-bred ISH gelding Cloneyhea Capriole, who qualified at Newcastle West, Shane McKenna earlier claimed the ridden horse championship with his mother Janet’s Traditional Irish Sport Horse gelding Watchouse High Voltage who qualified out of Adamstown where he was champion riding horse.

“My mother owns him but that’s all she does, I do the rest!” quipped McKenna who revealed that he purchased the Stormy Mountain bay privately from Donal Goland last autumn and broke him over the winter. “He was traditionally-bred by Lisa Comiskey out of a Crosstown Dancer mare. He has a lovely temperament and is very easy to do anything with – on the ground or in the saddle.

“He was reserve supreme ridden horse champion at the Northern Ireland Festival (to Sunday’s amateur final winner Taughblane Dancer) and, before that, he was riding horse champion at the Show of the East. He’s entered in the large riding horse class at Dublin. Michelle Robb did a great job as ride judge; she was sympathetic to the four-year-olds who gained a lot of confidence underneath her.”

Amateur-ridden horse

One person who really appreciated the livestream was Susan Fanning whose daughter Tara Murphy partnered her own ISH gelding Taughblane Dancer to victory in the amateur-ridden horse final. Fionnuala Lennon stood second on her Irish Draught gelding Tallyho McGuire. Murphy won the same class last season on Assagart Divine.

“I was away on a long-planned holiday in New York, so it was fantastic to be able to watch all the action online,” said Fanning. “We keep the horse on livery at Greenogue where he is looked after by Abby Kennedy so she and Joanne Butler, who is Tara’s coach, brought the two of them down to Barnadown and looked after them on the day.”

A five-year-old chesnut by Crosstown Dancer, the good-moving, beautifully-balanced Taughblane Dancer is out of the Amiro M mare Taughblane Uptown Girl, a half-sister to the Jacomar siblings Alomar DS (CCI2*-L) and Applejack (CCI3*-S). He was bred in Co Down by Lyndsey Wylie from whom he was purchased in February. The new combination had their first start together at the Northern Ireland Festival, where they won the ridden horse supreme championship. They qualified out of Raheendaw.

“While people might think that Tara would go for the sportsman’s class at Dublin, she has entered Taughblane Dancer in the five-year-old middleweight class, reckoning that he’ll only be five the once!” continued Fanning. “The horse has a great jump and hopefully he’ll get Tara back into working hunters in the not too distant future.”

All three finals are now accessible on the Connolly’s Red Mills YouTube page.