A COMBINATION of perfect weather, lucrative championships and a team of English judges all proved major attractions at Charleville Show last weekend, when the north Munster show smashed its attendance records.

Amongst the thousands at Charleville was Michael Creed TD, the recently reappointed Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The Minister highlighted the importance of agricultural shows by saying: “These shows are integral to who we are,” and he indicated that the Indecon review of the Irish Sport Horse industry would be published before the Dáil recess.

ADVERTISEMENT

Cyril Carty, who previously drove a milk lorry from Kilchreest to Charleville daily, had a cargo of Connemaras instead and took the Connemara championship with Birdhill Rising Star (by Callowfeenish Buachaill).

Saturday’s other native in-hand championship was Aidan Williamson’s part-bred Welsh and overall in-hand winner Goldengrove Temptress (Goldengrove Starstruck).

In the evening’s finale, John Burchill’s Frenchfort Lux Gold (by Lux Z) won the supreme title with his daughter Deirdre on board their intermediate champion, bought as a foal from Oranmore breeder Pat Finn.

It was another Galway purchase, this time from Riona Finn, that took the reserve tricolour. This was Janet Williamson’s Oh Dakota Justice, that won at Balmoral too for young Josh Williamson.

The Galway winning streak continued on Sunday when Susanne Kelly’s three-year-old filly Susies Diamond Miss (by Colin Diamond) won the coveted Charleville young horse championship.

“We came here to see if we’d enter Dublin and got our answer,” said her thrilled owner, admiring the names of former greats on the Morrissey Cup.

Reserve was Regina Daly’s two-year-old filly Timpany Ruby, out of last year’s The Irish Field Breeders Championship winning mare Slatequarry Sasha.

Galway County’s loss proved Charleville’s gain with 11 forward for the reallocated Breeders Championship qualifier.

Here judges Bill Bourns and Philip Scott selected Stephen Culliney’s Kilkeany Mystic (Ghareeb), Mary Murphy’s French Black Beauty (Loughehoe Guy) and Brendan and Aidan O’Sullivan’s Miss Cranny Lancelot (Lancelot). Murphy’s foal is by Sligo Candy Boy and OBOS Quality sired the other pair.

Culliney’s mare also won the Horse Sport Ireland broodmare championship with P.J. Lehane’s PJ’s Dream (Lux Z) in reserve. Lehane had an outstanding day in the earlier broodmare classes winning the overall championship, ahead of the O’Mahony family’s Brooklodge Ruby (Riverland Roi), while Lehane’s Womanizer filly was reserve to Kieran O’Gorman’s foal champion by his own Munther.

Dominic Furnell’s purebred Draught mare Ballycahane Silver Vixen (Gurraun Zidane) won the working hunter championship, with the course featuring a new double bank.

That proved to be the first part of an Irish Draught double as Glenn Knipe’s small hunter winner Farmhill Grange Of Donard, by the Agherlow son, Skipping Grange went on to win the hunter championship, ahead of Claire Connors’s Rehy I’m A Star (Harlequin Du Carel).

“That [champion] was out of this world, incredible and the reason we put the small hunter up was, as a four-year-old, it was the most valuable in the field” said visiting judge Robin Sharp, who has a 1,000-acre dairy farm in the West Country.