FOLLOWING a year’s absence from the calendar in 2020 because of Covid-19 and the re-scheduling of the show to September last year due to the continuing effects of the pandemic, the 153rd Balmoral Show will be held on its usual May dates next week at Balmoral Park, Lisburn.

Billed as Northern Ireland’s largest agri-food event and with title sponsorship from Ulster Bank, the show runs from Wednesday to Saturday and, while the doors only open to the public at 9.30am each day, action in all arenas commences much earlier. Non-exhibitors should note that all tickets must be purchased online and printed out at home or downloaded to a smartphone for verification on arrival. No tickets will be available at the gate.

International show jumping returns to Balmoral this year with two CSI2* classes being staged each day from Wednesday to Friday. The highlight of the six competitions will be Friday afternoon’s International Grand Prix, a Longines ranking class, jointly sponsored by Bottlegreen and Horse Sport Ireland. Combinations have pre-qualified for the four national horse classes, the inter-schools’ competition and the Under 10s’ 128cms class.

Combinations also had to qualify for the ‘Balmoral Star of the Future’ performance horse championships which were staged for the first time last September in place of the young event horse championships. These will be judged on Friday morning in the Main Arena by Eric Smiley who represented Ireland at both the Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996) Olympic Games.

Seamus McGillion’s traditionally-bred 2017 Road To Happiness mare Ardglen Star Happiness, who won the four and five-year-old championship last September, has qualified again this season under Emma Jackson.

Co Wicklow rider/producer Jane Bradbury returns to Balmoral with Daphne Tierney’s 2021 Creightons supreme champion hunter, Bloomfield Distinction. This OBOS Quality 004 gelding claimed both the heavyweight and four-year-old titles en route to overall honours last term. Tierney and Bradbury will also be represented at the show by their champion two-year-old from last September, the Dignified van’t Zorgvliet gelding Bloomfield Breagura who was crowned youngstock champion at Thomastown last Saturday.

Among other horses returning to Balmoral Park to defend their titles is John Roche’s Assagart Fairytale, champion broodmare of 2021. The 2015 bay by Coroner will be shown with a colt foal at foot by Lansdown. Fairytale will be travelling up from Wexford with Assagart Mistress who won the ladies’ astride championship here in 2016 under Melanie Horsman. She is not due to foal until July.

The Irish Draught ridden champion from last year, the 2017 Gortfree Hero gelding, Gortfree Rocky, will be back to do battle on Wednesday afternoon not only for new exhibitors, Kate and Alison Crozier, but under the new name, Mountview Silver Fox. Sammy Weston will once again ride the reigning Irish Draught performance champion, Charlotte Moore’s Tullys Cherry, although that 2016 Skip And Sea mare will be taking on more experienced rivals from the outset on Thursday morning as she has moved into six-year-old and upwards company.

Connemara ponies

For fans of our other native breed, the Connemara pony, Thursday is the centre of their week. Co Galway exhibitor Grace Maxwell Murphy is once again making a bid to land the in-hand mares’ title with her 2017 Glencarrig Knight grey, Glencarrig Princess Ella, while also hoping to double up in the ridden championship with the 2015 Frederiksminde Hazy Match gelding, Addrigoole Andre.

Among the starters in the working hunter division will be Emily McGowan’s reigning champion Tullaree Fear Buí. This 2013 Templebready Fear Bui gelding, who will be partnered by Lesley Jones, was recently crowned Festival working hunter pony supreme champion at the Northern Ireland Festival in Cavan.

Two horses have shown their wellbeing of late in advance of Balmoral, one being the 2021 racehorse to riding horse champion, Woodland Opera. The 2010 Robins Des Champs gelding, who is ridden for owners Valerie and Diana Cooper by Jamie Buckley, was crowned champion racehorse to riding horse at the NIF. Another is the reigning working hunter champion, Declan O’Neill’s 2017 OBOS Quality 004 gelding Ratheoin Quality Imp who has been successfully competing on the performance horse circuit in the hands of Gwen Scott.

Due to make his seasonal debut on Friday under Brian Murphy is the 2021 champion cob, Pat Loughlin’s well-known maxi grey Peaky Blinder, a 2012 Irish Draught gelding by Rockrimmon Silver Diamond.

Ponies dominate the equestrian sector on Saturday both in show jumping and showing and, while the support of those competing in the outside rings will be rather muted, don’t expect the same of those in the inter-schools jumping or the Under 10s’ 128cms competition

App available

The good news for those who can’t attend Balmoral next week is that there will be a live stream available on show days. You may not always see horses but you will see top exhibits from other sectors of the show. And don’t forget to download the Balmoral Show app.