FOLLOWING A year’s sojourn in Co Cork, the Laidlaw Cup for the champion young horse at the RDS heads north to Banbridge, home of John Donaghy, whose Caesars Palace lifted the coveted title yesterday morning in Ring 2.
The lightweight gelding, shown by Sam McCormick, is an athletic type which claimed the two-year-old crown on Thursday.
He comes from the first crop of the unraced American-bred Emperor Augustus, who stands with Desmond Noctor at his Tara Hill Stud in Gorey. The bay was bred in Thurles by Kevin Bannon and is out of a Ricardo Z half-sister to international show jumper and sire Coolcorron Cool Diamond.
The reserve champion, Credit Crunch, was shown by David Alcorn for Dromara producer Dessie Gibson, who also bred the gelding. Winner of the three-year-old title, this bay is by the Irish sport-horse stallion Puissance out of an unraced thoroughbred mare by Mister Mat.
Séamus Lehane, who brought the Laidlaw Cup back to Clonakilty last year, went home with two other trophies which he had just returned to the RDS.
His Ballard Windy Ridge (by Diamond Discovery) claimed the yearling title, while his Ghareeb two-year-old Ballard Playboy, second in his class to Caesars Palace, took the Pembroke Cup for champion exhibitor-bred horse.
The prestigious breeders’ championship, which was sponsored by the Irish Field, was won by well-known Tinahely breeder Derek Rothwell.
The class is judged on the combined scores of the mares (40 per cent) and foals (60 per cent) forward and Mr Rothwell won with his home-bred Cruising mare Millennium Cruise and her April-foaled colt by Mermus R.
Mr Rothwell last won this competition 13 years ago when Millennium Cruise, then a foal, was shown with her dam Greenhall Cailin Deas.
Co Clare exhibitor Tommy O’Gorman finished second with his Dysart Lily and her colt foal by VDL Arkansas, with Mr Rothwell taking third with Greenhall Dismissed, which was shown with her filly by Ghareeb.
Mary Rothwell led up her father’s winning mare and then went on to partner her own stunningly-marked skewbald gelding, Clonogan, to victory in the coloured horse championship. The eight-year-old was winning for the first time on his fourth visit to Dublin and no one begrudged the owner/rider this success.
Earlier in the day, Sharon Rothwell had shown the family’s Limmerick bay to victory in the youngstock fillies’ championship.