Watergate continues to bloom

A proud owner achieves a lifelong aspiration, a three-year-old filly moves up the line and a once tricky gelding scores two titles

- ALEX ROBINSON

Dublin Horse Show, Royal Dublin Society, Ireland 

LAST year’s supreme young horse victor returned 12 months later to clinch the ridden hunter supreme accolade at just four years old.

Brendan Furlong’s magnificent lightweight Bloomfield Watergate (Percy) provided his rider Jane Bradbury with her third Dublin hunter supreme, adding this triumph to the 2011 and 2014 crowns she took aboard Bloomfield Olly and Bloomfield Excelsior, respectively.

Bred by Daphne Tierney, Percy is by Watermill Swatch out of Ballyconnery Surprise.

“I saw a video of him winning the All-Ireland three-year-old championship at Bannow and Rathangan last year,” said Brendan – who was achieving a lifelong ambition of owning a Dublin supreme winner – after Percy’s victory.

“I got in touch with Daphne to see if he’d be for sale and she had two conditions: one being that he went to Dublin under saddle. He is turning out to be the buy of a lifetime.”

Percy debuted in the show ring as a three-year-old and he stood champion here at Dublin in 2022 with Michael Lyons at his head. He headed to the UK last winter to be broken and was then lightly campaigned as a novice by Alice Homer.

“We have to thank Daphne for breeding him and keeping him; it was a big decision for her to sell him last summer,” said Jane, who noted that earlier this season Percy was champion at Tattersalls and Adamstown, the latter being Brendan’s birthplace.

“The exposure he had in England really paid off; he’s a lovely horse with a beautiful mind. You couldn’t really write the script that a horse could win both young horse and ridden supremes in the space of a year. He’s incredible.”