Blarney Quercus gave owners Peter and Kathy Bowdler just the tonic as he claimed the British Horse Feeds and Irish Draught Horse Society (GB) (IDHS (GB)) full ridden Irish Draught final and the overall section championship at the Agria Royal International Horse Show (RIHS).
The eight-year-old Baltydaniel Romeo gelding was ridden by his producer Charles Le Moignon to victory.
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Quercus was bred at Blarney Castle, and bought by Peter and Kathy as a foal after they saw him win at Dublin.
“They like to do that, buy them as babies and run them on,” said Charles, “and I’m fortunate enough to be able to ride them afterwards.”
He added: “Peter and Kathy couldn’t be better owners; they never put any pressure on and win or lose, we just have a nice day. So it was marvellous to be able to do this for them, particularly with Peter having been so poorly.”
Peter has recently undergone open-heart surgery having been rushed to Morriston hospital in early June, so neither he nor Kathy was able to witness the victory, which Charles hoped would be “just the tonic.”
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Kathy received the news for both over the phone, and shed happy tears.
“We’re absolutely delighted,” she said. “We were sorry to have missed it, but it would have been a bit too far for Peter to travel just yet and are grateful to everyone who has kept us up to date on what’s happening.”
Charles was equally positive about Quercus himself: “He’s a gentleman. At my age, I only have nice temperament horses, but he really is an absolute gentleman. He’s been very well brought up and is a lovely, lovely horse who is just coming into his own.”
“Looking forward to the next few years, there’s so much more to come from this horse. That’s the great thing about him, he’s got a future rather than a past.”
Reserve champion was awarded to the winner of the British Horse Feeds and Irish Draught Horse Society (GB) (IDHS (GB)) ridden Irish Draught sports horse/ part bred Irish Draught division. This was Myles Cooper astride Alan Marnie’s recent recruit, Under Attack.
Formerly owned by Myles’ long-term owner Liz Worthy, he has been produced for the past few seasons by Simon and Natalie Reynolds. As Myles is a director of Alan’s business and he’s now under Alan’s ownership, he will move to Team Marnie’s HQ in August.
The nine-year-old was bred by Billy Moran by Billy’s prolific stock-getter Tiger Attack and is a regular on the middleweight hunter scene as well as Irish Draught classes.
Ride judge Matthew McGivern said: “My co-judge and I were really splitting hairs in the championship. But the pure Irish Draught winner who was our eventual champion never missed a beat all the way through, and just had the edge for me. They are both beautiful horses, though, and it could easily have gone the other way.
“Our champion gave me a superb ride – you could tell he was so well prepared. But the standard has been very high throughout. There was a real mixture of established and younger horses, and the atmosphere lit up a few, but not one gave me a disappointing ride.”
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Bethan joined Horse & Hound as showing editor in January 2025, after spending two years as Editor for Showing World. Having adored ponies since childhood, she started showing as a teenager and has enjoyed wins at major shows up and down the country, including Royal Highland, New Forest, and the Royal Welsh, as well as HOYS, RIHS and London. She is particularly passionate about Welsh breeds and is also a Welsh language commentator.
