Dublin Horse Show Best Dressed day: 91-year-old contestant ‘likes the finer things in life’

Age is no barrier for competitors at one of the RDS’s most glamorous days of the year

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Fri Aug 08 2025 – 06:00

At 91 years of age, Philip Brophy from Malahide was probably the oldest contestant at this year’s RDS Horse Show’s Best Dressed competition.

He donned a blue and white striped linen Louis Copeland suit which he received as a gift for his 90th birthday, the jacket lining adorned with 1950s pin-ups. Underneath, his white sequined waistcoat sparkled, while his blue hat, topped with a large pink feather, sat at a jaunty angle.

“Philip likes the finer things in life,” says Áine Cryan, who works in the residential home where Brophy lives.

On their sixth annual trip, Cryan says, Brophy jumped out of bed at 8am on the day of the horse show.