IT was a second Dublin championship for the Irish Draught stallion Edenagor Star last Friday, when Grace Maxwell Murphy and William McMahon’s six-year-old reclaimed his 2023 title.

With 17 entries this year, the DAFM-sponsored Irish Draught stallion class went back to two separate sections, followed by an overall championship on Friday when judges Elizabeth Cooke and Jonathan Geake opted for the pair from the opener.

Edenagor Star, whose Co Donegal breeders - the McNulty family - were all ringside to watch the Dunsandle Diamond grey, topped the first half, ahead of Colm Condron’s Clogheen Life Of Reilly (King Elvis). It was his Offaly owner’s first-time Dublin stallion class entry and the pair stood ahead of last year’s champion, Pat Hoare’s Moylough Supremacy (Carrabawn Cross) in third.

In the second section, it was Moylough Supremacy’s full-brother Legacy, also owned by Pat and bred by the late John Gilboy, who won. This result capped an excellent week for the liver chesnut as his daughter Malahow Grace’s Legacy had won the Irish Draught mare championship the previous day for Lisa Baker.

Mayo supporters were praying their All-Ireland football final luck would hold out, but it was reserve and third-place results instead for Susan Malee’s Carrabeg Glengarriff (Clonakilty Hero) and Peter McHugh’s Sean’s Supremacy (Moylough Supremacy), both home-breds.

In the overall championship, among the top-placed pair from each class, the judges stayed with their opening-class choices: Edenagor Star as champion and Clogheen Life of Riley as reserve. The latter was bred by Danny Molloy, another to enjoy an exceptional Dublin as the champion Irish Draught foal was by another of his stallions, The Bachelor.

Markets

No less than four of the stallions in the classes had a For Sale tag in the catalogue and another stallion owner disclosed he had been offered three UK-based Irish Draught stallions from various owners, as there was little cross-channel demand for them. Which is surprising, considering the growth in the ridden Draught market. All subject matter for a future article, however last Friday belonged to the grey pair’s connections.

“He’s had an awful lot of demand since he won in 2023 and his progeny are doing the talking now, which is great. I think having him seen on the [Dublin] big stage, especially where they can see his movement and correctness, is a huge advantage for breeders. The amount of people that came up to us, including the judges, complimenting his bone and his movement was incredible,” said Grace Maxwell Murphy about her champion.

Both this year’s champion and reserve are from the Cavan class of 2023, where Colm saw the pair at the Horse Sport Ireland inspections. “I had first seen Clogheen Life Of Reilly at his inspection, where Seamus Sloyan, his then-owner, presented him. I thought both horses stood out on the day.”

Having travelled to Sloyan’s yard to view a foal, the Offaly man ended up buying the foal’s sire instead when he saw the stallion again! “I remember thinking that this is a potential RDS horse and, while I was thinking this, Seamus just said, ‘He is an RDS horse’.”

With the encouragement of his wife Vivienne, Colm bought him. “I’m very grateful to Seamus for giving me the chance to buy him, he was very open and straight to deal with.

“I’ll never forget the feeling of my horse being in the same ring as Moylough Supremacy, a two-in-a-row supreme champion, the 2023 champion Edenagor Star and Moylough Legacy, who was a whisker away on several occasions. It truly was an honour. A special mention has to be given to Lorcan Glynn and his family for the work they put into him, all this would not have been possible without them. Lorcan is a true showman and horseman.”