Producer James Smyth – based just outside Belfast – has just been crowned Dublin Horse Show leading rider for the fourth time on the bounce, which is no mean feat.
With 26 horses in their stable, James and his partner Ryan Anderson fielded 22 of these at Dublin. They brought a fine array of wins and championships between them, which led to James being crowned Dublin Horse Show leading rider once again.
James gives us the lowdown on competing at Dublin Horse Show…
How James became Dublin Horse Show leading rider for the fourth time
The award is based on placings accumulated during the week. James – who enjoyed his first Dublin win aboard Colorado in the intermediate hunter type – started his 2025 campaign in the riding horse classes. He secured a space in the championship for both Debbie Harrod’s large runner-up King Of Clubs II, and small winner Glenkeeran The Last Dace (Sid). “Shire queen” Emma Green took Crosstown Dancer five-year-old Sid’s reins in the championship to finish reserve.
James and Glenkeeran The Last Dance top the small riding horse division
There was more luck for James in the cob and hunter ranks: Hilary Gibson’s Highview Forthriver won the lightweight cobs, Hilary and Mark Morrow’s Horse of the Year Show (HOYS)-bound Mr Venture Elm was middleweight hunter champion, and Debbie Harrod’s winner of the six-year-old and over lightweight hunter class, Bannside Dancer (Toddi), was lightweight champion.
Ryan brought a share of success to the yard, too, most notably securing a further tricolour in the coloured section astride Knockroe Flash, a type James describes as “hard to find nowadays with the bone and substance to be a show hunter – he’s a real middleweight.”
What Dublin Horse Show means to James, 2025 leading rider
“As a producer here, Dublin means everything to me,” said James. “It’s where we aim for from one August to the next. And winning this feels like confirmation you’re doing a good job – that your horses look and go well.”
James’ tips for a Dublin first-timer
“Make sure you give your horse enough work and time to get used to the atmosphere. It’s electric there and it’s hard to prepare for that,” explains James.
“Because it’s in the middle of the city, there’s more of an echo than at normal shows, and you never know what’s going to happen; there could be trolleys going past from the trade stands or kids kicking the banners, and down in the bottom of ring two you have the bandstand…
“Then there’s Ladies Day on a Thursday and Friday is Aga Khan day. If an Irish horse jumps clear in the Aga Khan, the cheer in the main arena goes up and you cannot prepare for it. You don’t know when it’s going to happen or anything.”
If James could take any horse bar his own to Dublin, it would be…
“It would have to be Bloomfield Excelsior,” says James. “He was initially with Jane Bradbury and then with Jayne Ross while I was working there for a while.
“He was a true heavyweight hunter and a very good horse to gallop so he would have suited the big ring at Dublin.”
As four-time Dublin Horse Show leading rider, would he rather enter the ring favourite or the underdog?
“That depends on the judges,” quips James with a wry smile. “No, in all honesty, I think it depends on the horse. I’d generally rather enter the ring on a favourite and feel confident, but if it was a sharp or tricky horse, then maybe it’s easier to enter as underdog without the pressure of expectation.”
Dublin is known for being a shop window for young horses. In a young show horse, James looks for…
“First and foremost, good basic conformation,” says James. “It’s always the most important thing to me. People talk about a finding ‘a Dublin horse’ or ‘a Balmoral horse’, but for me it doesn’t matter – all show horses should have correct conformation and be the correct type for the class.
“I like to buy horses as three year olds, not broken, and take them slowly.”
If James were to seek advice from anyone, it would be…
“For advice on horses I would probably speak to Desi Gibson, because he is very good at what he does and sourcing young horses, and he can see things that probably I can’t,” says James.
James on his horse of a lifetime…
James admits that though he’s “had a lot of superb horses through the yard” during his career, he’d have to choose Toddi.
He explains: “My grandfather Samuel Smyth bred him, and he’s named Toddi after my great uncle.”
This was the seven-year-old’s third win here; he was reserve four-year-old champion and has stood reserve lightweight twice before.
“He’s a real yard favourite; a real good character. When you ride him, wherever you want him to go he’ll go, and he’s a good horse to gallop,” continues James. “He also has so many Dublin winners in his pedigree on the dam side – Seefin Lady and Hunter’s Jewel, his great granddam and granddam were both Dublin winners.
And finally, with Dublin over for 2025, what about the ideal weekend away from showing?
“Going to a horse sale,” James laughs.
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