By Susan Finnerty
The Horse Sport Ireland foal championships, held on October 19, dovetailed in with one of the frequent shows held at Cavan Equestrian Centre. This is also where HSI hold their annual stallion inspections and, in both cases, it will be interesting to see how many graduates and their progeny go on to compete at Cavan and beyond.
One damfamiliar with Cavan’s showjumping arenas is Rincarina (Cruising - Diamond Ballerina x Diamond Lad), bred by Noel Cawley, former chairman of the Irish Horse Board. Now 14, Rincarina’s second foal Carina (For Pleasure x Cruising) was champion showjumping filly on the night. “She thinks she’s back in Cavan to jump,” said Jonathan Cleary, who showed the mare in the final and who works part-time for Greg Broderick. Clearly pleased to be back in the limelight, Rincarina was previously jumped at 1m55 level by Broderick and is a former Lanaken finalist, having jumped there in the 2010 World Breeding Championship for Young Horses as a six-year-old.
Carina’s share of the lucrative €13,000 prize fund was a cheque for €1,500 paid to each of the champions on the night. Divided into showjumping and eventing categories, each section was further divided into separate colt and filly sections with a champion and reserve awarded in each division.
Foals had qualified at five regional qualifiers, held in each of Horse Sport Ireland’s electoral regions, and this was the third year of this HSI initiative, aimed at identifying, evaluating and rewarding breeders of foals with show-jumping and eventing potential. Carina’s reserve of only two finalists in the showjumpiing filly division was John Clarke’s Clarkes Jet Stream (Quidam Junior I - Clarkes Quite Optimistic x Lux Z).
Quidam Junior I was also prominent in the showjumping colt final, producing the champion, John Buttimer’s Django Junior (out of Contend Heraldik x Contender, bred by Harm Johannsen). “Dad was on the lookout for a broodmare for a few years, and saw nothing suitable. It was fate that we happened to be at Kedrah House Stud chatting with Tom (Meagher – Kedrah House Stud, owner where MHS Going Global’s sire Quidam Junior I stands), and dad mentioned he was looking for a mare with the potential to breed quality showjumpers,” explained John’s daughter Melissa as to how they acquired the mare with strong eventing bloodlines too. “At the moment, we hope to hold onto him and have him produced through the ranks here in Ireland, and to keep him as a stallion. I suppose all we can do now is wrap him up in cotton wool, and hope luck stays on our side!” she added...CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO BREEDING NEWS
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