With the introduction of the Dublin loose jumping finals, another shop window opened for hopeful vendors.

Whether past prize winners have gone on to the global success envisaged from their early promise, however, has been the subject of much debate. This topic was raised at the Teagasc National Equine Conference in Tullamore last November, when equine specialist advisor Wendy Conlon’s study of recent finalists found that relatively few had gone on to major success.