ALWAYS one of Ring 1’s main attractions, last year’s The Irish Field Breeders’ Championship drew an even larger than usual ringside audience with the anticipated appearance of the former Dublin Grand Prix winner Castleforbes Libertina, followed by the Princess Royal’s surprise visit during the closing stages of the final.

This year’s Championship is sponsored once again by The Irish Field and sees a range of nationwide hopefuls qualified for the showpiece, aimed at benchmarking Irish breeding stock. German judge Jens Meyer and Harm Thormählen, who bred John Whitaker’s Rio Olympics horse Ornellaia, pay a return visit to Dublin to judge this combination championship.