North Tipperary’s Greg Broderick and the five-year-old mare Arraghbeg Clover produced a stunning victory for the Irish Sport Horse Studbook at the World Breeding Championships at Lanaken in Belgium.
Despite some poor weather conditions earlier this week, the event attracted an enormous crowd of enthusiastic breeders, producers, riders, trainers, owners and experts from around the world, all who thoroughly enjoyed their annual reunion.
These Championships have long been recognised as the perfect place to share ideas, and compare the merit, development, innovation and success of the studbooks, old and new, which produce the latest stars of the modern day sport of Jumping.
The gold-medal-winning partnership of Greg Broderick and the ISH Arraghbeg Clover were eighteenth to go, and they set an unmerciful target when breaking the beam in 39.72 seconds after a scorching round in which the Tipperary rider took every risk.
This mare, by Captain Clover who is a son of the legendary Irish stallion Clover Hill, has a mix of breeding that combines the toughness of the Irish horse with the quality of the thoroughbred, Bonnie Prince, on his dam’s side and with the Dutch influence of Animo.
Greg, who celebrated his 28th birthday yesterday, is a prolific producer of good Irish horses and Arraghbeg Clover has earned €19,000 in prize money in the last few months having won the Irish Sport Horse Studbook 5-Year-Old League and the Breeders Classic, while also finishing third in her age category at Dublin Horse Show in August.
Arraghbeg Clover – Captain Clover x Bonnie Prince – is jointly-owned by her rider and Declan Orpen.
From a start list of some 242 horses, 63 qualified for yesterday’s 5-Year-Old final in which 25 went through to a jump-off.
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