AN enthusiastic crowd of breeders applauded as 15 of the best Irish Sport Horse and Irish Draught breeders in Ireland were honoured at the Horse Sport Ireland Breeders Awards in the Horse & Jockey Hotel, Thurles, Co Tipperary on Wednesday night.

Among the recipients of the 2014 Breeders Awards were Paula Cullen and Bryan Maguire, breeders of the Irish Sport Horses Paulank Brockagh (ISH) and Bay My Hero (ISH), winners of tough CCI**** at Badminton Horse Trials and Rolex, Kentucky respectively this year.

Both Cullen and Bryan are keen to breed traditional Irish horses as they feel that buyers on the international market, particularly for eventing, will continue to source Irish horses.

The award for Breeder of the Top International Event Horse went to Kilkenny’s Patrick Fenlon for the Ghareeb gelding Kilronan (ISH). Ridden by Australian rider Paul Tapner, Kilronan recorded a fourth place finish at Badminton CCI**** and individually placed 15th at the World Equestrian Games 2014. He is also the highest placed Irish Sport Horse in the WBFSH eventing rankings 2014, finishing in ninth place.

Frank Gordon from Crossmolina, Co Mayo was honoured as the breeder of Irish Sport Horse Cooley Dream Extreme (ISH), who was the highest-placed Irish Sport Horse at Le Lion d’Angers last month. Cooley Dream Extreme, ridden by Britain’s Piggy French, claimed the bronze medal in the six-year-old division at the 2014 FEI WBFSH Eventing Championships for Young Horses.

Margaret Kinsella from Co Galway received an award as the owner and breeder of the most successful young event horse, Rioghan Rua (ISH). Cathal Daniels and Rioghan Rua were on the gold medal-winning team at Jardy in 2013 and on the gold medal team at the European Junior Championships 2014 in Bishop Burton, where they also won individual silver after s storming cross-country round. The pair also competed at Le Lion d’Angers where the mare finished best of the Irish in the seven-year-old division.

Breeder of the highest-placed show jumping rookie in the WBFSH rankings was Des and Seamus Judge, from Bonniconlon, Co Mayo for the Lux Z gelding Special Lux (ISH). American rider Jonathan McCrea finished second in the Spruce Meadows CSI***** $400,000 Grand Prix and recorded a solid performance to help team USA take second place in the CSIO**** Nations Cup in Mexico.

TECHNOLOGY

Joanne and Finbar Mulligan received the award for the breeder utilising modern breeding technologies with success for their Irish Sport Horse Pembrook Milenia who, ridden by Stacey Babes for Britain, finished in fourth place in the five-year-old final at the WBFSH Jumping Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken 2014. Both Joanne, editor of The Irish Horse in the Irish Farmers Journal under her maiden name of Fox, and Finbar, a lecturer in UCD’s Scho ol of Veterinary Medicine, believe that breeding sport horses is a science not an art and are committed to the full and proper application of quantitative genetic techniques in their breeding programme. The breeder of the highest-placed Irish Sport Horse at the FEI WBFSH Jumping Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken was Navan-born Heather Dean Wright for her Luidam mare Ard Ginger Pop (ISH).

The sale-topper at the inaugural Goresbridge Select Sale of Show Jumpers at the Irish Breeders Classic show, the mare was sold for €95,000 after winning the Irish Sport Horse Studbook five-year-old league, the Millstreet Ruby five-year-old final and just before she won the five-year-old silver medal at Lanaken.

An award was also presented to Slyguff stud Barbara Hatton on behalf of the late Loftus O’Neill, breeder of renowned sire Master Imp, who overtook long-time leader Heraldik to become the leading event horse stallion in the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horse (WBFSH) sire rankings.

Not since 2008, when Cavalier Royale headed the WBFSH’s inaugural sire rankings, has an Irish-based stallion achieved this accolade.

The highest-ranked of Master Imp’s offspring is Improvise, the 2014 Burghley and Luhmühlen prizewinner, ridden by Australian rider Bill Levett. The next biggest points earner is High Kingdom, bred by William Micklem, after his silver medal team performance at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games with Zara Phillips.