Tara Dunne

ALEXANDER Butler and Talks Cheap proved that the mare was worth her €50,000 price tag by winning Sunday’s Irish Breeders Classic final less than 48 hours after she went under the hammer.

One of the top priced lots in the Goresbridge Supreme Sale of Show Jumpers on Friday night, Talks Cheap delivered the goods for Butler in a 12-horse decider on their final outing as a partnership. The performance was watched by the mare’s new owners, Carl Hanley and Enda Carroll, who flew in to see the final. (Turn to page A64 for a full report on the Supreme Sale of Show Jumpers).  

Touted as the richest young horse class in Europe, Butler was among the top riders with five and six-year-old horses coming through from two qualifying rounds to compete for the €39,400 prize fund. The fund consisted of contributions from the numerous sponsors who supported the Irish Breeders Classic in its third year.

Butler, speaking after the class, said: “I’m delighted with the result and with the mare. Her new owners Enda Carroll and Carl Hanley are here so it was great to win, it’s the biggest class for young horses that Ireland has.

“She has been a very good mare for me. I think she is going to go on and win a lot of classes and hopefully she will go on to big things.”

By Tinaranas Inspector, the six-year-old mare was bred by Co Limerick’s Ronnie Kelly and is out of the Colin Diamond mare Dreaming. Produced up until last year by her former owner Hannah Joyce, Talks Cheap has been an exceptionally consistent performer for Butler.

Beginning their partnership in 2013, the pair won the five-year-old consolation class at the WBFSH World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken, Belgium, and went on to triumph in the five-year-old championship at Cavan last November.

This season Butler’s run of form with Talks Cheap continued with an overall win in the six-year-old section of the Irish Sport Horse Studbook series, while the mare also finished third in the Cruising Six-Year-Old National Championship at the Dublin Horse Show.

Butler’s results throughout the year had ensured that once again the pair had been selected for Lanaken but Talks Cheap will now compete with Hanley’s rider Alex Duffy.

Hanley, having flown in from the World Equestrian Games to watch his new acquisitions in the Irish Breeders Classic commented: “I’m delighted. The mare has proven to be well worth the money. We were actually expecting the five-year-old mare [Ard Ginger Pop] to come out top of the two but it’s worked out either way.”

Commenting on the inaugural Goresbridge Supreme Sale of Show Jumpers, Hanley added: “I think it’s a great idea to have a high class auction in the country. I was with Enda at WEG and we were talking about it and felt we should support it.

“We actually hadn’t seen that much of the horses but we talked to the boys and they gave us a really good feeling about them. We were only going to buy one but then we got a bit carried away and bought the second mare too.”

Course designer Tom Holden set the challenge for the 24 starting combinations and the five and six-year-olds proved equally matched when six returned in each section to contest the jump-off.

PATHFINDER

Playing pathfinder was Francis Connors with Erne Luxetta. Connors aimed for a steady clear with the five-year-old Lux Z mare and duly delivered to set the time to beat at 56.10 seconds.

Ger O’Neill was next to take it on with Ard Ginger Pop. The high profile Luidam-sired mare was one of the favourites to feature but proved out of luck when faulting on the home straight, albeit in a very fast time of 42.12. This would leave O’Neill just outside the eventual top six.

Declan Egan set a new time to beat with Deirdre Bourns’ CSF Mr Kroon. Deceptively fast, Egan laid down the gauntlet by recording a time of 41.79 with nothing to add. By Kroongraaf out of a Cruising dam, CSF Mr Kroon is a former winner of the Mo Chroi Four Year Old National Championship at the Dublin Horse Show.

Peter Moloney had no intention of taking on Egan’s challenge and focused on a clear round with the Padinus-sired ESI Carvalho. His tactical approach would pay dividends with his time of 53.46 holding for the green rosette at the end of the day.

The final two riders in the five-year-old section both had a single pole down for a total of four faults. Ethen Ahearne was the faster of the two with Glimmering, completing in a time of 42.30, while Ciara Morris stopped the clock at 44.79 with the SIEC Livello mare Tykillen Livella.

Connors was the first to take on the raised course for the six-year-old section riding the Ustinov-sired Annaghmore Ustina but failed to improve on his initial outing, lowering two fences in a time of 46.29.

Daniela O’Toole later joined Connors on a score of eight with Good Lux Lucy but proved to be the slower of the two when coming home in 57.18.

PERFECT PROGRESS

Butler, however, had no such troubles with Talks Cheap. Starting off at a good pace, Butler got progressively quicker and perfected the sweeping turn-back to the final three fences which had accounted for the majority of the faults in the jump-off. Butler crossed the line in 39.69 to secure the lead.

Peter Smyth looked determined to feature with Touch Button but was put out of contention when the turn to the second fence didn’t go to plan. The combination jumped the wings of the oxer and were subsequently eliminated when it was judged that they did not in fact cross the obstacle.

Jason Higgins logged what would prove to be the fifth and final clear round of the day. Riding the Harlequin Du Carel mare Kilcannon Cavaquin, Higgins was guaranteed eventual third place in the line-up when the clock recorded 46.71.

As the final rider in the clocked round, all eyes were on Greg Broderick to see if he could snatch the lead at the last moment. Partnering his Cruising Six-Year-Old Championship mount Super Chilled, Broderick provided a few tense moments for Butler but faulted at the midway point of the course, finishing on a total of four in a time of 41.67.