TERENCE Sweeney from Ballyconneely might just have been the most popular Clifden supreme champion winner in many years when he took the tricolour on Wednesday evening to the delight of the crowd at the 98th annual Connemara Pony Show.

Sweeney led his home-bred 16-year-old stallion Dunloughan Troy (Currachmore Cashel – Bay Lass, Garryhinch Prince) to win the seven-year-old and over registered stallion class for the second year in-a-row earlier in the day, before being called out as the champion. It was a first Clifden championship for the Dunloughan breeder after many years of trying.

The reserve supreme title went to Paddy Kearns’ 14-year-old mare Loughmor Suzy (Linsfort Barney x Frederiksminde Hazy Match), winner of the 10-15-year-old mare class just before the championship. Kearns also took the Broodmare Championship ahead of Fiona and Tomas Grimes’ 10-year-old mare Copperbeech Polly (Menlough Owen x Currachmore Cashel) who finished second to Loughmor Suzy.

Attention turned to the ridden classes on Thursday where Zoe Price backed up her Dublin form by winning the four and five-year-old ridden class with Lough Derg Star (Glencarrig Joe x Tynagh Miller) before being announced as the Supreme Ridden Champion. In the reserve spot was last week’s Dublin champion, Patrick Curran’s five-year-old stallion Glencarrig Douvan (Glencarrig Knight x Laerkens Cascade Dawn). As we went to press on Friday, the Puissance record was broken when Holly Maher cleared 1.65m with Boulabeha’s Little Princess. The full report from the 2023 Connemara Pony Festival will appear in next week’s paper.