College racing and equestrian clubs have plenty going on before the serious business of exams start, as Liam Elvidge reports

AS all colleges come to the midway point of the first semester, it is one of the busiest times of the year for the racing and equestrian clubs before study begins in earnest for the Christmas and January examinations.

UL Tetrathlon 2014

This weekend is one of the biggest and best of the year for all college equestrian clubs with the tetrathlon intervarsity competition taking place. This year the event is proudly hosted by the University of Limerick Equestrian Club and will take place in Ennis, Co Clare.

The tetrathlon intervarsity competition comprises both team and individual events and is organised by the Irish Universities Riding Clubs Association for its member colleges. It is a variant of the modern pentathlon, without fencing. Thus it comprises the four disciplines of shooting, swimming, show jumping and running. Each team consists of four members from one college club competing against several teams from rival colleges.

The running, swimming and shooting aspects of the competition will take place in Shannon Leisure Centre beginning early on Saturday morning with the show jumping to take place on Sunday at the Castlefergus Riding stables followed by the prize giving.

However, the weekend is not all about competition and for many the highlights of the weekend are the fancy dress party with a childhood characters theme on Friday night, and a ball taking place on Saturday night which will be followed by a DJ and party that is expected to last well into the night.

The colleges will stay in Treacy’s West County Hotel in Ennis who have provided a fabulous deal on their rooms for the weekend costing just €80 per person sharing for two night’s bed and breakfast.

TCD Horse Racing Society

One of the most active societies this year as ever has been the Trinity Horse Racing Society. Following a very fruitful three day trip to the Arc where 55 students and alumni attended, the committee have organised a trip to Punchestown on November 15th.

Punchestown Racecourse has been extremely generous once again accommodating the group and the trip will cost just €12. This includes admission, food and transport from Dublin. Patrick Mullins will also be guiding the students through the card before racing, hopefully pointing them in the right direction to back plenty of winners.

The committee is also hard at work planning a number of trips for the rest of this semester. They hope to organise a trip to Goffs for the November Foal or Breeding Stock sale and this will be a new experience for many of the students giving them an understanding of how the bloodstock side of the industry works.

Maynooth Equine Business Talk

John Rowe, graduate of the BBS in Equine Business and the Irish National Stud Breeding course came to visit the present Equine Business classes to speak about the Darley Flying Start programme. John is currently a student on the Darley Flying Start course and gave wonderful information about the course to those who attended looking for insights into the two year full-time management training programme for the thoroughbred industry.

Galway Student Race Day

The Galway Student Race Day held on the bank holiday Monday October 27th proved to be an amazing success. A crowd, including approximately 4,000 students, flocked to Ballybrit for a great day of entertaining racing with many going on from racing to enjoy the nightlife in the city.

The proceeds from the event went to a very worthwhile cause. Voluntary Services Abroad, founded in 1977 is a medical aid charity run by medical students in NUIG. Every summer, groups of volunteering students head overseas for four-six weeks to countries such as Zambia, Ethiopia and Vietnam. The €500 prize on offer for the best dressed lady was won by Aoife Kiernan who was overjoyed with her prize, sponsored by Stephen Fahy owner of the Hole In The Wall pub.