Tara Dunne

GREG Broderick pulled off another young horse championship victory this time taking the honours in Sunday’s five-year-old final.

Victorious in the five-year-old Cavan Classic with Cartouche V Overis Z back in September, Broderick and the grey gelding once again proved to be the combination to beat on the day.

Drawn early in the 13-horse decider, Broderick played a successful game of ‘catch me if you can’ with the remaining riders when logging a double clear round in a time of 38.38 seconds.

Broderick commented: “I’m delighted with the result. The horse jumped every day this week just to give him some experience and he just got better and better as the week went on. He jumped exceptionally well in the final.”

Broderick continued: “He ticks all the right boxes. He is a big horse with a big stride and loads of jump. A lot of those big five-year-olds can be a little bit awkward but he is a very careful horse and he is very crafty in the ring. Not only can he jump big fences but he is really manoeuvrable.”

Bred in Belgium, Cartouche V Overis Z is by Chellano Z out of a Diamant de Semilly dam. Imported as a foal, the gelding caught Broderick’s eye in the sales ring in Goresbridge and was purchased as a three-year-old. Produced this year by Broderick’s stable jockey Ethen Ahearne, Broderick took over the ride before the Cavan Indoor Championships and the pair will now contest the final five-year-old championship of the year at this weekend’s Emerald International show.

GOOD DAY

It proved to be a good day for Broderick’s Ballypatrick Stables with Ahearne guaranteeing a one-two victory for the Co Tipperary-based yard. Partnered with Kilpatrick Brigade, Ahearne was the only other rider to come home inside the 39-second mark. Fractionally slower than Broderick with the Clover Brigade-sired gelding, Ahearne stopped the clock at 38.95.

Drawn at the latter end of the jump-off, Clem McMahon looked determined to threaten with Hilton Pacato but proved just off the mark time wise when across the line in 40.27. This would prove good enough for eventual third place with the home-bred Pacino-sired gelding.

Catherine Thornton had set the original time to beat at 40.80 with the Balou du Rouet-sired Graf Balouprint which held for the green rosette. Tholm Keane was two seconds out from Thornton with the Ars Vivendi-sired mare Vivian Lee. Taking the slightly wider routes, Keane recorded a time of 42.23.

Only two other riders kept a clean sheet on their second outing. Conan Wright proved to be the faster of the two with Ard Golden Crisp home in a time of 49.08 while Linda Courtney broke the beams with LCC Troy in 51.19.