Susan Finnerty

THERE was no question of Paula Howard’s Breeders Championship winners having Saturday morning off instead of taking their chances in the Coote Cup classes.

Their sporting owner’s decision was rewarded when Slatequarry Sasha joined a handful of mares, including Woodfield Valier (2013) and Leader Star (2005), to bring off this elusive Breeders Championship winning mare/Coote Cup double.

Her promotion to the head of the lightweight class created a Dublin precedent with three Ghareeb daughters in the top-three. In fact, Slatequarry Sasha was also part of a similar sight at Balmoral last year, when the Dr Moira McKelvey-bred winning 10-year-old was one of four by Ghareeb in her class, before going on to win the RUAS broodmare title.

Patrick Wafer’s Parkmore Evita had to bypass the Breeders Championship the previous day but, thankfully, made a quick recovery after a reaction to a suspected insect bite en-route to the show and she bounced back to move up the line to second.

Stephen Culliney’s Kilkeany Mystic has been a model of consistency for her Co Clare owner and took third this year, one place ahead of Ronnie McCombe’s Emperor Augustus mare, My Lisnagade.

Tom Newell’s first Dublin venture with Kilcahill Diamond paid off when his Colin Diamond six-year-old finished in the rosettes, while last year’s Coote Cup champion Hankalaine was sixth.

John and Julia Crosbie had a busy morning as the Ring 1 classes clashed with their Mr Kingsley’s main arena appearance where he finished as the heavyweight reserve champion. More good news followed when Hankalaine’s Hermes De Reve filly won her class.

family affair

The Wafer family’s run of blue rosettes continued when Parkmore Elusive, by last year’s Croker Cup winner Elusive Emir, was second ahead of My Lisnagade’s Financial Reward filly.

Munther, whose owner Kieran O’Gorman is keen to see the Croker Cup return, has always had a good run in the Dublin foal classes with his offspring and last Saturday was no exception with his Clonakilty owner scoring with his own Munther’s Rebel in the colt division.

Richard Drohan had sold his Island Commander colt foal before the Breeders Championship and took second here with the smart chesnut.

Liz Murphy’s Cappulcorragh Quality Control, by OBOS Quality placed third.

Both O’Gorman and Drohan had an additional rival in the thoroughbred-sired foal class, which saw a win for Midleton owner Thomas Jones. He won this lucrative class with a Spirit House colt, who was in the Breeders Championship final too the previous day with his Cruising dam, Amazon Cruise. She had taken a decade-long sabbatical in the field until Thomas was persuaded to bring her out again by Val Hyde, who with his son Robert, had shown the pair in the Breeders Championship.

In the other two broodmare classes, the Roche family’s incredible week continued as they had two Coote Cup contenders to pit against Slatequarry Sasha.

Assagart Saviour struck first with her usual handler Paddy McCarthy in the opening middle/heavyweight class. She won this for an impressive fourth time, ahead of last year’s Coote Cup reserve Madame Noir, owned by Kieran Fahey, and Gina Heap’s Equine Connect Monchie, yet another by the good broodmare sire Flagmount King.

John Roche collected his final red rosette of the week, courtesy of Assagart Mistress, who won the stinted mare class for the Foulksmills farmer ahead of Margaret Jeffares’s Ballykelly Hi Hope and Lisa Comiskey’s Dreaming Dancer.

Having won the Irish Draught mare championship on Thursday with their new find Assagart Kingstead Fiona, the prospect of a unique double was in store for the Roche family, but it was Slatequarry Sasha who crowned her connections week with the Coote Cup title.

Maintaining a clean sweep for traditional-breds was the former Limerick Lady champion Assagart Mistress, a six-year-old by another noted broodmare sire in Kings Master, who stood broodmare reserve champion in a near-double for the Wexford clan.

“I thought the standard in the lightweight class was a lot better than the middleweights.

“The foals were, as is always with foals, difficult [to judge] and it was just what was right on the day and what was correct.

“We’re both thoroughbred racing people and it is so important that their feet and legs are correct. They have to be light on their feet, have presence and look as if they can do a proper job,” said Scottish judge Pat Stirling, referring to her and dual Gold Cup-winning trainer Noel Chance’s criteria.

“She had everything, movement, presence and quality,” observed Chance about their champion, while Stirling was also full of praise for their reserve saying “She’s an old-fashioned middleweight stamp, it’s hard to get that quality and that type broodmare. I’d say she’s worth her weight in gold.”