Brian Hennessy
THE fifth round of the Irish Sport Horse Studbook Showjumping Series at Galway County Show saw a local winner in the seven-year-old final, as Damien Griffin from Ahascragh near Ballinasloe took the winner’s prize with Lissyegan Lui Royale.
The mare by Luidam out of the dam Lissyegan Clover Royale who is by Cavalier Royale, is owned and bred by Damien’s mum Margaret Griffin and this latest win comes on the back of another ISH Studbook Series win at Cavan in May, while the pair also finished fourth in the Studbook class at Mullingar International.
Speaking to The Irish Field after his victory, Griffin commented: “I knew there were still a few very fast combinations coming after me in the jump-off so there was no point in holding back. I’m delighted to get this win, it puts us on the top of the league table and it would be really nice to get to go to Lanaken again at the end of the year, I jumped there once before with a five-year-old and it would be great to go back.”
Damien Griffin went on to give more background information on Lissyegan Lui Royale’s breeding, saying: “We still have her dam, Lissyegan Clover Royale, who we bought as three-year-old in Goresbridge. We have a very nice filly foal out of her by Future Trend and another nice yearling filly by Merimus R and this dam has also produced a nine-year-old by Cruising who is competing in Sweden at the moment.
“We sold a full-brother to Lissyegan Lui Royale recently to England, but I have no plans to sell the mare herself. I’m not going to jump any of the RDS qualifiers with her this year but hope to jump in the Cavan Classic towards the end of the season. The long term goal with her would be hopefully to produce her on to Nations Cup level.”
ADVANTAGE
Seven horses made it through to the jump-off with Griffin’s time of 38.56 seconds giving him an advantage over another Galway rider Cormac Rafferty, who finished as runner-up with Aoife Rafferty’s KMR Benzini, a gelding by Morgangold Major out of a dam by Colonel Godfrey who was bred by Carol McLaughlin.
Mayo’s Gabriel Slattery finished third with Belfields Captain, a gelding by Captain Clover out of a dam by Tremblant, who is owned and bred by Patrick Prendergast, while Wexford’s Jason Higgins finished fourth with Kilcannon Cavaquin a mare by Harlequin Du Carel out of a dam by Cavalier Royale.
Kilcannon Cavaquin is owned by Mary Bolger and was bred by Tony Loughnane from Co Tipperary and was the winner of the Studbook class at Mullingar earlier this month.
Waterford’s Tholm Keane finished fifth with the Shannondale Sarco mare Highly Efficient who is owned by Amanda Kirwin and was bred by Senan Canny, while Daniela O’Toole finished sixth with Peter O’Toole’s Good Lux Lucy a mare by Lux Z who was bred by George Hill.
SIX-YEAR-OLD FINAL
In the six-year-old final Declan McEvoy, riding his own Kannan gelding BLM Cosmopolitan Dandy, who was bred by Katy Murphy from Co Kildare, was the fastest clear round in the six horse jump-off.
They edged out Thomas O Brien and Anne Marie Allen’s Beach Ball gelding Lumineer (bred by Mervyn Bell) who finished as runners-up.
Alexander Butler finished third with Norman Allen’s Ardragh Cool Touch, a gelding by Out Of Touch who was bred by Oliver Ward, while Jessica Burke finished fourth with Derek Conway’s Atlas R. Thomas O’Brien finished fifth with the Elizabeth Hodgins’s owned Carramore, while Jason Higgins and the Francis Sheeran owned Camross Diamond finished sixth.
The five-year-old ISH Studbook class at Galway County saw nine horses share the win and the €3,150 prize fund.
The nine winners were: Martin Rudd (Monbeg Sunny Spells), Joseph O’Brien (Legaland Lux Breaker), Richard Kerins (Achonry Carie), Vincent Howley (HVL Consun), Raphael Lee (Captain Marko), Cormac Rafferty (Clooncalagy Knight), Gabriel Slattery (Kashino), Cormac Rafferty (KMR Twilight) and David Moran (MHS Attraction).