CHILDREN on horses got their first chance at a championship win last Saturday when four teams went head-to-head in a bid to claim the Botanica Children on Horses Team Championship.

Jumped in a Nations Cup format, teams were allocated an experienced team manager and the ethos of team spirit was put to play.

Last year things didn’t go according to plan for team manager Johnny O’Connell when he was down one team member, but this year he had a full quota and went on to claim the championship. The Johnny O’Connell team consisted of Max Wachman (Cesha Old), John McEntee (HHS Inspiration), Aoife Drea (Sandballin) and Ellen Thompson (Charlton Chloe).

Delighted with the result, O’Connell said: “I had a great team of riders and horses and they put in a great performance. I could see that all riders had a great support network around them from parents to trainers.

“It was obvious that the trainers had invested a lot of time in their students and that they had a great foundation that has been developed with the use of good teaching. Really, because of this support, I was only there to give them a few final tips. They all had a very professional approach to the competition and no doubt these riders will go on to be very successful.”

O’Connell’s team got off to a great start with Max Wachman and Cesha Old delivering the first clear of the class. Second to go for the team, John McEntee had an unlucky four faults with HHS Inspiration, which was later discounted as the discard score.

Clear rounds from Aoife Drea and Ellen Thompson meant that the team finished on zero faults in the first round. They then went on to produce four clears the second time out to land victory on a total of zero faults.

The John McNamara team of Natalie Larkin (Young Limmerick), Lucy Morton (Delton), Rhys Williams (CES Cruson) and Ciara Fives (Loughnatousa Brennan) were neck and neck with O’Connell’s team on zero faults after the first round, but four faults in the second round meant a second place finish for the quartet.

Denis Flannelly’s team of Leah Stack (Fiona Van Het Harteveld), Nadine Carey (Cruise News), Niamh McEvoy (Ballyrobin Nimmerdor) and Jack Geaney (Doon Alright) completed the first round on eight faults, but added a further four to this and to end in third with 12 faults.

Team manager Michael Kelly was at a disadvantage from the start as his team consisted of just three members – Emma Jane McCloskey (Lates Sparkey), Lewis Trenier (Royana De Clarias) and Alexander Mc Geoghan-Santry (Ballymountain Cash Crisis). The pressure was on the trio as there was no opportunity of a discard score and they finished in fourth place on a score of 43 penalties.

WACHMAN WINS

On Sunday the individual Botanica championship honours went to Max Wachman with Sue Magnier’s Cesha Old. This combination already boast an impressive record. Winners of the RDS qualifier’s in Cavan and at the Meadows, the pairing also won the young riders championship at Munster Stadium Jumping in Cork.

After the class, Wachman said he was delighted with how the show went for him and his instruction from trainer Michael Condon going into the jump-off was to “just go for it”.

Of the 16 starters, half of those proceeded to the jump-off and from those, half delivered double clears.

For those riders with a win in mind, a tight line form the double back to the penultimate fence and then to the last oxer was a required maneuver.

Alexander Mc Geoghan-Santry and Ballymountain Cash Crisis set the time to beat when they lodged a clear in 36.55 but this was short lived as Jack Geaney and Doon Alright reduced the target to 35.78.

Following a great performance in the team championship, Tom Wachman only had a win in mind as he took to the course with Cesha Old. A series of tight turns, matched with a tight line to the oxer, saw him clock the winning time of 33.50.

Riding Delton, Lucy Morton followed a similar path to Wachman but despite taking the tights lines, a clear in 34.93 was only good enough for second, leaving Geaney to take third and Mc Geoghan-Santry fourth.

Natalie Larkin posted the fasted time of the class – 32.33 with Young Limmerick – but four faults meant they had to settle for fifth place, ahead of Ciara Fives clear with Loughnatousa Brennan who had one fence down in 34.82 to finish sixth.