Hero stallion does the business yet again

FOR the third time since 2010 Gortfree Hero won the highly-competitive Irish Draught stallion class at the Dublin Horse Show to top off a fantastic week for his owner Sean Barker, who also claimed back-to-back victories in the performance championship with his other stallion, the home-bred Gortfree Lakeside Lad.

Now 16, Gortfree Hero was the oldest stallion in a line-up of 13, but he held the advantage over his younger rivals and was always the first choice for visiting judges Nigel Barnett Peel and Maren Schlender.

“When he was pulled in first I was worried then that he might get dropped back down, but thankfully he stayed there. Wayne Chapman did a super job showing him for me,” said a delighted Sean Barker.

Second place went to Jimmy Quinn’s seven-year-old Cappa Aristocrat, a winner in 2017, with third going to Patrick Hoare’s Moylough Legacy.

“This was his third time to win — he also won in 2010 and 2014 — so for a horse of his age it was fantastic as he won’t be back here to defend his title in 2019,” Mr Barker added. “He has nothing else to prove in the show ring now, so the plan is to send him back show jumping for a while with Linda Murphy.”

Linda Murphy is no stranger to the winner’s enclosure herself and for the second time in a row she steered Gortfree Hero’s stallion son Gortfree Lakeside Lad to win the performance title on Wednesday afternoon.

A champion also in 2017, Five-year-old gelding Anni Flagmount gets a wash.

the six-year-old first won his class for six-year-olds and over before going on to take the sash ahead of Emma Ryan’s five-year-old home-bred gelding Anni Flagmount, ridden by Jason Furlong.

Both Gortfree Hero and Gortfree Lakeside Lad have had busy seasons covering mares, and this week Gortfree Lakeside Lad will return to the UK where he will bid to defend his ridden championship title won with Brian Murphy in 2017 at the Irish Draught Horse Society of Great Britain’s Annual Show.

There were also great celebrations during the week for the Murphy family from Co Mayo as their home-bred Holycross Grace landed the Irish Draught mares’ title.

Runner-up in 2015 — the same year she was crowned Mare of the Future at the National Show in Punchestown — the six-year-old by Holycross went one better this time when shown with her filly foal by Tors Gentleman Farmer.