WELL-known to readers of this column through his work with Pegus Horse Feed, Declan Cullen is one of the driving forces behind the 2018 Event Riders Challenge Race due to be held as part of a fund-raising night at Dundalk Stadium on Wednesday, March 28th.

Programmed to be the final contest on the night’s card, the race will be over one mile, seven furlongs and there will be a maximum of 14 starters (with three reserves). All horses/geldings will carry a minimum of 12st, with a 5lbs allowance for mares and a 3lbs penalty for each race won from January 1st, 2017 (maximum penalty 9lbs).

Each rider, who must be a paid-up member of Eventing Ireland and have completed a CIC2* or a CCI2* in the past 12 months, will have to raise a minimum of €2,000 with all proceeds going towards the Eventing Ireland High Performance Programme.

Full details on the race conditions can be inspected on the EI website.

As well as organising the race, Declan, who works with his wife Becky at their Cullen Equine Solutions company outside Gilford, hopes to take part. We look forward to learning the names of those targeting the race over the next few weeks.