celebration of the horse that is so evident at the Dublin Horse Show. We hope that you will enjoy our coverage of this exciting week in a city which comes alive as it welcomes horse people from all over the world to view the classes. With so much to see and do throughout the week it is hard to bring you all the rings and classes but I would suggest a visit to the Dublin Show's own web site to get any results that we have not brought you.

The buzz and hype leading to Dublin was all about the Nations Cup and who was going to win it - the Brits were coming in on a high after their win at Hickstead the previous week but the French have held their lead throughout the series. The Irish have been hot on the heels of the French being in second place by a mere half point - and the money was all on the Irish as the feeling was that the home crowd would somehow be able to 'will' the team over the finish line in first place.

International and Olympic Course Designer Linda Allen (USA) set the riders some serious tests every day and the Nations Cup was to be no exception. Linda is known for building tough and technical tracks and this week she also added height and width to those qualities! By the time Linda came to build the track for the International Grand Prix on the Sunday she was well revved and built an amazing track which although some believed it was unjumpable - it actually was not as proved by those who managed to go through with no faults.

The day loomed bright and warm for the Nations Cup class and in true Irish style they first honoured the people who give the top riders top horses by presenting the Isuzu Breeders Cup.

It was some 20 years ago that an Irishman named Thady Ryan came up with the concept of showing and judging mares with foal at foot and awarding points to both. For this class the mares must be entered in the Irish Horse Register with a foal at foot by an sire on the list of approved stallions published by the Irish Horse Board and the Northern Ireland Horse Board, or a Thoroughbred Sire registered in Weatherby's General Stud Book. This class is also open to Thoroughbred mares with foal at foot by a non-thoroughbred sire on the list of approved stallions as published by the Irish Horse Board and the Northern Irish Horse Board.

Points are awarded with a maximum of 50 points to the mare and a mximum of 50 points to the foal and the generous 1st place money of euro1,600.00 goes a small way to thanking the breeders for their diligence in breeding such quality as we saw in the main arena on this sunny Friday.

It was great to catch up Thady Ryan who has made the long trek to his native homeland from his adopted home in New Zealand this year and on chatting with him he said he was most impressed with the quality he had seen at the show this year.

The winning entry for 2003 went to Mark English with the mare Dimmer Light (and there was nothing dim about this light) and her gorgeous Ricardo Z filly.

Hurst Show Horses had an amazing trifecta with three full sisters in the final 6 all with foals at foot by Porsch, who is an International showjumping stallion jumped through the ranks by Ireland's own Trevor Coyle.

Hurst Show Horses took out second place with Tattygare Golden Moments and her Porsch colt, Tattygare Best Buddy, who showed great elegance as did third placing with My Golden Bonnie and her Porsch filly, Tattygare Third Generation. It must have been a tough decision for the judges, because quite honestly all six finalists were of excellent quality and I would personally be proud to have bred any one of them. Hurst Show Horses won this class in 2002 with their mare Tattygare April Dawn.

Fourth placing went to Derry Rothwell and Barronstown Girl and her filly foal by Weavers Web - and it could well be that this is the last foal we will see by Weavers Web as he sadly died earlier this year so it may well be up to this little filly to keep his lineage going. Barronstown Girl gives us the traditional Irish breeding with her sire being Touch Stone.

Michael J McCarthy and the mare Levacide with her classy colt foal, Kilnagross Star by Big Sink Hope took out fifth spot in the lineup and the sixth spot went once again to Hurst Show Horses with Tattygare Golden Delight and her Porsch colt foal, Tattygare Sharon's Choice.

This must have given the Judges some mighty headaches deciding in which order to place these 6 exceptional mares with their equally exceptional foals and the Judges and the Breeders are all to be congratulated. I have no doubt that some of these foals will reappear in this hallowed arena in the years ahead as super showjumpers.

above - the winning filly foal of the Breeders Cup.

below - both mare and foal seem quite relaxed as the Judging goes on in the main arena.

For the full story on the Aga Khan Nations Cup class complete with photos click here

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