Five All-Ireland champions were crowned at Roscommon last Saturday when the Irish Shows Association ran off its finals in a special one-day format.

Part of Horse Sport Ireland’s national showing series, the day gave Irish Draught and sport horse exhibitors a chance to lay claim to a 2021 title in an otherwise sparse show calendar.

With all eyes on another All-Ireland final in Croke Park this Saturday, James Duffy’s Kilmovee Castana brought the Pat Carty Cup to Mayo as the overall Irish Draught foal champion.

Not only a timely birthday present for his owner, the April-foaled colt is by his own stallion Kilmovee White Hero for good measure.

Philip Copithorne, who had gone cub hunting that morning with the South County Farmers, before driving from Kinsale to judge, was pleased with the standard of the Irish Draught foals.

“I thought we had an outstanding winner in our colt foal, lovely short shin, great knees, great depth of girth. Very hard to fault him anywhere,” he remarked. When asked if the Irish Draught was in danger of losing their trademark short shin, he replied “big time”.

The reserve champion was Padraig Bohan’s Gortfadda Diamond (Innisfree The Iron Cross). It was a second reserve title for Bohan’s filly that was also the Leitrim Breeders Challenge reserve with her Heigh Ho Dubh dam, Gortfadda Heigh Ho.

Champion in this 50/50 mare and foal combination class, judged by Lawrence Patterson, was Jimmy Noone’s Crusheen Breeze (Coolcronan Wood) and her Tors Gentleman Farmer colt.

Leitrim connection

Normally hosted at Mohil, Bohan’s hometown show, there was another Leitrim connection amongst the small allowance of onlookers as representing the show were Michael and Madge Casey, two stalwarts of the Irish Draught and show scene.

Host show Roscommon normally holds the Irish Draught yearling filly final, won this year by Roscrea owner John Corbett’s Clonfad Close Diamond (Carrickrock Close Shave), bred by Michael Scott.

Paddy McCarthy’s reserve champion was Michael Egan’s Cloonacauneen Sally, another by Tors Gentleman Farmer, bred by Owen Griffin.

Over in the sport horse ring, the sun came out for the foal finals. Siobhan Madden, another to have an early start from Co Cork, found her All-Ireland sport horse filly champion in Mary Murphy’s good-moving CG Blaze Of Glory (Loughehoe Guy) out of the Power Blade mare Castlemeadow Mildred. Another All-Ireland title for Mayo.

From the six contenders put forward, the reserve title went to Adrian Shoer’s Miss Castle Quality (Lagans OBOS Quality).

In the traditional foal finals, judged by Liam Cotter, the overall championships went to Frank Redmond’s smart colt.

By Donal Goland’s Croker Cup champion a decade ago, Financial Reward, the champion’s breeding is an all-Ballinglen Stud affair as his dam Eastern Rebel, bought as a hunter mare by her Redcross owner, is by his stable companion Rebel Mountain. That colt will join them as he was snapped up by Goland months ago.

The reserve traditional foal went to Michael Dooner’s filly, another of the day’s champions by Loughehoe Guy and out of her Athlone owner’s prolific Dunkerrin Grey Mist mare Vanity Fare, the dam of several All-Ireland traditional foal champions.

With the triumphant Duffys on their way home to make a wedding and a chance for exhibitors to have their All-Ireland opportunities, there was a sense that some semblance of normality is coming back.