Keeping track of Balmoral champions is a full-time job for Dromara, Co Cown, exhibitor Dessie Gibson who won the young horse championship last week with his yearling Legacy (Financial Reward).

“I think its five or six times I’ve won the young horse championships and I’ve won it at least twice with other people’s horses” said Gibson.

He spotted Legacy at Iverk Show and bought his reserve young horse champion Action Man (Harlequin du Carel) at Goresbridge.

It proved to be a back-to-back Balmoral young horse championship and reserve, plus a yearling championship, treble for Gibson as he had done the exact same in 2017, with his three-year-old CAFRE Quartermaster (OBOS Quality) and yearling Rolex (Watermill Swatch).

Both are now in England, where he sells many of his horses to producers like Steve Pitt and Martin Woods.

Watermill Swatch had another good Balmoral as the Daphne Tierney-owned and Jane Bradbury-produced Bloomfield Waterfall won the ridden hunter championship, following after Bloomfield Bespoke (Future Trend) 12 months ago. Standing reserve to this middleweight champion was Trevor Wallace’s Applejack (Porsch).

Other champions included Paula Howard’s Dernhatten Out Of Touch (Bienamado) and Derryronane Stud’s Strictly Come Bouncing (Moylough Bouncer) in the sport horse and Irish Draught broodmare championships. John Roche owned the reserves – Assagart Sapphire (Flagmount King) and Assagart Kingstead Fiona (Huntingfield Rebel).

There was more Flagmount breeding seen in the Performance Irish Draught section, won by Kathryn Knox’s Braeview Codega (Flagmount Clover Diamond) and the working hunter champion was Paulette Cooper’s MJM Lazlo, by the Irish Draught sire Classic Vision.

Claire Devlin won the Connemara working hunter championship with the prolific Blackwood Fernando (Ferdia) while Robbie Fallon, took a break from preparations for Athenry, when his Frederiksminde Mellow II (Hazy Dawn) was the Connemara mare winner.

RDS rule change

The RDS has issued a rule change for four and five-year-olds in the ridden and performance classes at the Dublin Horse Show.

“It is compulsory that all four and five-year-old horses entered in these classes have competed in a minimum of three shows prior to 1 August, 2018,” state the organisers. “Exhibitors will be required to state the three shows on their entry form; the close of entry deadline remains Friday, 29 June at 5pm.

“An allowance will be made for exhibitors who wish to compete in a show between time of entry and 1 August, i.e. exhibitors will be permitted to list a show that they intend to compete in.

“If an exhibitor lists a future show, but is then unable to attend for reasons of force majeure, the exhibitor must declare this to the Equestrian Office before 1 August. Proof of participation at these shows may be requested on arrival at Dublin, and should incorrect or inaccurate information be supplied, it will incur elimination. For five-year-old horses who competed as four-year-olds in 2017, this experience may be used to fulfil the requirement.”

Clare success at Windsor

Co Clare’s Sean Jones bred last week’s Royal Windsor supreme ridden champion View Point, by Lougheoe Guy out of the OBOS Quality 004 dam Quality Dame. Her future champion was bought as a foal by owner Jill Day and her seven-year-old was also the supreme horse champion at the Horse of the Year Show last October.

Watermill Swatch’s good run continued as Mossy, also bred in the Clare by Tim and Margaret Kelly, was the reserve hunter champion.