Record crowds, sunshine and a monster birthday cake brought the 1998 Kerrygold Horse Show to an end yesterday afternoon, with the RDS's chief executive, Mr Shane Cleary, celebrating what he described as his best ever Horse Show.
Mr Clery was marking a double anniversary, of 125 shows and 10 years of sponsorship from the Irish Dairy Board, as well as a £1.5 million facelift for the RDS grounds.
But he is still determined to continue the improvements that have brought the Dublin fixture out of the doldrums of the late 1980s, and put it back in its rightful place as the single most important event on the Irish equestrian calendar.
"It's been my best Horse Show ever and the investment has paid off handsomely," he said at the close of play yesterday. "But there are more things we can do.
"I want to do a major review of the next few weeks in terms of the equestrian programme, looking at the entertainment content of what goes on in the main arena and the show business, as opposed to Horse Show business, outside the main arena."
Horse trading was said to be brisk throughout the week, with Mr Cleary crediting the introduction of the Inward Buyer Scheme for the first time at the show with encouraging foreign buyers to travel to Dublin. The Irish Horse Board scheme subsidises travel expenses for buyers who actually make equine purchases during their trips to Ireland.
Profits from this year's Kerrygold fixture were down on the 1997 figures, but Mr Cleary expects the show to return a profit of £150,000, with the reduction brought about by the injection of an extra £50,000 into the prize fund as part of the 125th anniversary celebrations.
Despite this year's £1.5 million outlay on the refurbishment of the showgrounds, which was funded entirely from the RDS investment fund, there are also plans for a millennium project that will involve major structural work on the Industries Hall, restoring it to its former glory.
The Industries Hall was built in 1850 in Kildare Street, but was then dismantled and re-erected at the Ballsbridge site in 1880.
But, in the meantime, the association between the RDS and the Irish Dairy Board continues to bear fruit. Dr Noel Cawley, managing director of the Dairy Board and chairman of the Irish Horse Board, was thrilled with the 10th Horse Show run under the Kerrygold flag.
"It was one of the best ever", he said yesterday, but stressed that no decision on next year's input from the Dairy Board will be made until October or November.