Susan Finnerty

ABBY Van Overis Z added another €3,000 to her paypacket after the Mo Chroi four-year-old champion won Sunday’s Broodmare Futurity final.

Confined to the two leading fillies in the loose performance and four to six-year-old show jumping finals, the beautifully-bred mare will join the Ballypatrick broodmare herd full-time after her competition career.

“She came from Belgium, I already had her half-brother Cartouche V Overis Z that won the Cavan Classic final and then I saw that filly,” said Rio-bound Greg Broderick, who also co-owned the 2013 Futurity winner Arraghbeg Clover. He was preparing to jump in the Nations Cup with MHS Going Global at the same time as the mare, owned in partnership with his Thurles cousin PJ Ryan, won Friday’s four-year-old qualifier in Simmonscourt, before clinching the overall championship the next day.

Produced again on Sunday in Ring 1 by Darragh Ryan to win the Henrik Klatte and Eric Levallois-judged Futurity, Abby Van Overis Z has already produced a yearling filly by the Darco sire Bamako De Muze. The leading sire in last year’s WBFSH show jumping sires, Kannan, is another one that has been used for her embryo transfer breeding programme.

By Nick Skelton’s great Arko III, the double champion is out of the Diamant De Semilly mare Delphine Van Overis Z, who has already produced Robert Whitaker’s promising Fabrice Van Overis Z.

Four-year-olds proved the strongest section in this year’s Futurity with the reserve championship going to Nigel Kenny’s consistent Derrycastle Sensation. Fourth and second in both qualifiers, she placed third in the Mo Chroi final with Peter Smyth.

Homebred by her Ballina, Co Tipperary owner, she is by the Zangersheide-registered Cevin Z out of the Lux Z dam Corrib Sensation. Her second dam Coppa Leaf, by Cavalier Royale, produced a number of 1.60m performers including Puissance specialist Cavalier Rusticana, a winner at the new Liverpool CSI**** and Balmoral winner Corrib House. Both of these were also produced by Peter Smyth.

Last year’s winning owner Marian Hughes was in the top three this year with Z Seven Canya Dance, winner of the Flexible five-year-old championship on the closing day.

The Can Ya Makan mare had also placed second in the opening qualifier with Michael Pender and is related to a whole host of promising and past performers bred by the Hughes family, including Du Noble, Rockfield Don Juan, Tow Mills Showtime, Marble City and Splendido.

This was the sixth year of the Futurity final and with several of the past finalists having already produced offspring by leading international sires, it will be interesting to view the progress of the next generation Irish-breds.