NOW in its 38th year, the Breeders’ Championship was the brainchild of the late Thady Ryan. It was a novel concept: there are broodmare classes and then there are classes for foals - how about a championship that combined the mare and foal to be judged as one unit?

The roll of honour of past champions is both a ‘Who’s Who’ of showring greats and a method of tracking the changes that have taken place within the Irish sport horse herd.