This article is from page 64 of the 2011-06-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 64 JPG
THE All-Ireland Broodmare Championship at the Clare Agricultural Show has been recognised as one of the premier showing classes in Ireland by being included in the new Horse Sport Ireland National Showing Championship Series, in association with the Irish Shows Association. Only ten Championships around Ireland have been included in the Series, which will see € 20,000 being injected into showing in 2011
The series will consist of ten championship finals taking place at ten of Ireland’s top rural shows, including three venues in County Clare – the others apart from Ennis are the Scariff and Kildysart Shows. There will be a total of 206 qualifying classes run around the country in the lead up to the finals.
Speaking at the launch, Horse Sport Ireland Chief Executive, Damian Mc Donald, said that as well as providing funding for the Series, Horse Sport Ireland were keen to increase the profile of the showing championships around the country.
“Qualifiers for these championships take place in every corner of Ireland at rural shows and are accessible to breeders. The shows are run on a voluntary basis with all the funding going directly to the exhibitors. Our vision is for these championships to become the Champions’ League of showing,” he said.