By Ian Gaughran / HSI
Photography: Prime Photography and the Bingham Family

The shining light of the Irish show season so far has been the 2010 mare Templepatrick Welcome Limmerick (ISH) – already victorious in a pair of two-star 1m45 International Grand Prix classes under the saddle of 18-year-old Niamh McEvoy.

The pair have certainly been making waves and many are predicting big things for the mare, owned by the Bingham family – and her young rider.
Out of Irish Sport Horse Go Luckey, Templepatrick Welcome Limmerick, or ‘Poppy’ as she is known in her yard, was bred by Dorothea Wilson and has progressed through the series for young horses to the point where she is now potentially on the verge of competing at major championships.
McEvoy and Poppy were successful in this year’s two-star Bottle Green and Horse Sport Ireland International Grand Prix and followed that up with another success at the Mullingar two-star International, while the 18-year-old also picked up the leading international rider prize at Balmoral, as well as the young rider award.
Owner Robin Bingham explained: “I originally spoke to Peter Smyth and told him I was looking for a four-year-old, and he tole me that Dorothea had mare that he thought I should look at. “So obviously from looking at her breeding she is by Limmerick, and I like Limmerick horses, out of a Lux Z (Hann) mare, so on paper she was good, but when I saw her she was lovely and scopey yet also quite tight and tense. But she was very light off the ground and I really thought she had a bright future.”
And so it transpired that Templepatrick Welcome Limmerick enjoyed plenty of success as a young horse at Dublin, through the Studbook Series and the Premier Series. “She has been great and Peter achieved so much with her, without ever really pushing her. I can’t speak highly enough of Peter and the work he did with the mare until it became time for Niamh to ride her.
“Niamh gets on so well with her – hopefully she is selected to compete at the European Championships because we really are daring to dream with the mare, and we’ve had offers for her but we aren’t just after the quick buck. The buzz we get from her and the enjoyment we get from her can’t be quantified.
“To take part in the likes of World Championships or Olympic Games are the things you don’t dare to mention because they’re just so far removed from the normal. But if it does happen it will be so good, and with Niamh too because she’s so talented and treats the mare with such love. The mare comes first always for Niamh and we really appreciate that... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber

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