Dessie Gibson, one of the country's top producers of young horses, once again swept all before him at the Kerrygold Horse Show, claiming the youngstock championship yesterday with his own and David Alcorn's Mystery Man.
The Colourfield youngster, which was bred by Alcorn, had scooped Thursday's three-year-old tricolour ahead of Stephen Lanigan-O'Keeffe's puissance filly Tiger Lily and was tipped as one of the hot favourites to go all the way in yesterday's supreme.
It was no surprise to see the quality brown gelding called in to receive the Pembroke Cup for the best homebred entry, with the filly champion, Bryan Maguire's Diamond Crest, standing reserve.
But the two-year-old filly allowed the occasion to go to her head and was executing too many airs above the ground for the judges to consider her for the supreme.
Gibson's charge, which had made his showing debut only 24 hours previously when claiming his class and the three-year-old title, was the picture of obedience however and it didn't take judges David Kellow and Luis Alvarez Cervera long to give him the nod for the overall honours and the massive Laidlaw Cup.
Sadie Murphy's Bewleys Hotel, the Weavers Web gelding that had taken both the lightweight two-year-old class and his age championship ahead of Caroline Berry's Pride Of Place, stood reserve. The chestnut, which won the yearling tricolour at Dublin 12 months ago when called Derry M, is a full brother to last year's reserve overall champion, Ann Lyons's Flowing River.
Gibson, modest to the last, claimed that his win with Mystery Man was only his third Dublin youngstock championship. But in fact the Co Down showman has produced numerous winners on the RDS turf for other owners, including last year's youngstock victor, John Donaghy's Kyleowen, although Sam McCormick was at the three-year-old's head for the supreme judging as Gibson was showing his own horse, Walnut Dash.
The heavyweight Walnut Dash, which claimed the twoyear-old championship in 2000, was sold two months ago and another Dublin contender was also sold out of Gibson's Dromara yard last week, leaving him to concentrate all his efforts on Mystery Man, which repaid the attention by collecting three major pieces of silverware, three coveted championship ribbons and the supreme youngstock honours.