BREXIT, Covid and diesel pump woes were set aside for HOYS, back on the calendar after being cancelled last year.

It was a vintage week for Irish-bred winners and native breeds, peaking on Sunday night when the Sean Jones-bred View Point (Loughehoe Guy) was crowned the supreme champion horse for Robert Walker. Bought as a foal by Jill Day and Tony Lloyd, the 10-year-old won the ridden hunter championship at Royal Windsor back in May and led a posse of Irish-bred hunter winners at Birmingham.

Daphne Tierney’s former charge Bloomfield Eloquence (Watermill Swatch. M.J Kavanagh) was the middleweight and reserve hunter champion and completing a HOYS hat-trick for Irish-breds was Dublins Streetfighter (Camiro de Haar Z. Noel Casey).

A third Banner-bred Ricruiso (Ricardo Z. Anita Browne) and the pure-bred Connemara, Woodfield Jovial Joker (Furbo Finnard. Donald Clarke) were the HOYS working hunter horse and pony champions.

Two more Connemaras – Alicia Devlin Byrne’s evergreen Blackwood Fernando (Ferdia. Patrick McNamara) and Emily Jayne McPolin’s Glenmore Miss Mirah (Westside Mirah. Jeann McClancy) won the large Mountain & Moorland and 153cms open working hunter classes. Two more dreams fulfilled.

Yet another double to note was Lord Alexander (Gortlea Ruler. John Burke) successfully defending his maxi cob title while Will Pittendrigh’s Silver Lough (Clew Bay Bouncer. Aideen Murphy) won the intermediate working hunter pony section and was the reserve working hunter pony champion.

The former Cuddy final for in-hand hopefuls, underwent a change of sponsorship and now renamed the Price Family championship crowned memorable Balmoral and HOYS weeks for Cork owner Regina Daly when her other three-year-old, the British-bred Tell Me Another (Future Illusion. Cathy Wood) won out.

View Point’s win also resulted in his Scariff breeder winning the Gain Feeds/The Irish Field Star of the Month award for October and the champion’s background story told by Sean Jones in his Breeders’ 10 feature.