Youth triumphed in the hunter championships yesterday, with the three weight cups all going to four-year-olds and Aaron McCusker's lightweight Connswater River eventually triumphing in a tussle with Kieran Ryan's Silverstream for the supreme honours.
Rachel Sleator's Something Special lived up to her name by taking the mare cup, the first of the championships on offer yesterday morning and she was back in the reckoning for the lightweight tricolour. But the six-year-old came up against McCusker's imposing chestnut and the judges had no hesitation in calling him in for the title.
Kieran and Mairead Ryan's quality heavyweight Silverstream had little difficulty in taking his weight cup and it was Ann Smurfit's lovely chestnut Bow River that was singled out for medium weight honours. But Bow River had just lost his sparkle in the supreme, leaving Silverstream and Connswater River to fight it out.
Silverstream had boiled over by the time the last of the senior judges, Chris Hunnable, climbed on board and was anticipating the gallop down the long side of the arena. That bit of cheekiness tipped the balance in favour of McCusker's chestnut and he got the nod for both the Four-Year-Old and the Supreme after lengthy deliberation.
"The winner was a worthy champion," judge Ian McKie said after the Bewley's Hotels presentation. "He's a horse with a lot of presence and a great future." Two other horses with great futures are the two young horse champions, Redwood Thyme and Electric Flame. David and Charlotte Kirkpatrick's Redwood Thyme, champion at Balmoral and the Royal Highland and only beaten once in six outings this season, took the Anthony Maude cup for the champion three-year-old. The two-year-old equivalent went to Gerard Mullins' Electric Flame, winner of nine championships.