THIS has been a very busy time for members of the Irish Pony Club as last weekend’s national eventing championships were preceded by the national tetrathlon championships on Saturday and Sunday, August 19th and 20th, which followed the national dressage day on Thursday, August 17th.
The shooting and swimming phases of the tetrathlon championships were held at Punchestown racecourse and the K-Leisure Centre in Naas after which competitors, and their supporters, moved from Co Kildare to Co Meath with those not spending the night at home, camping and stabling their horses/ponies at Fairyhouse racecourse.
The following morning there was a mass exodus to the Glynn family’s Killossery Lodge Stud for the riding and running phases of the competition. This group included a combined total of 23 tetrathletes from Branches of The Pony Club in Northern Ireland (Area 17) and Great Britain.
“The weather was perfect for the weekend and we were really happy with the cross-country course,” report the IPC’s chair of tetrathlon and minimus, John Flood. “The senior course was pitched perfectly for those taking part with 25% going clear. The course rode extremely well and the quality of riding was high. We were very happy with the entry of 225 and while there was only one Branch team in the senior boys’ championship, the number of competitors was well up on recent years.”
That Branch team was the Co Limerick quartet of Tim Collins, Ben Buckley, Sean Alfred and Sonny McCartan. They were presented with the Jobling Purser Cup as the leading IPC Branch and also with the Stephen Downes Trophy for best riding team as all four members of the squad retained their full ride quota of 1,400 points.
The Co Limericks recorded a team total of 11,849 but this was just good enough for second as the mixed trio of Duhallow’s Teddy Turner, Oliver Loud from the Wynnstay (Sir Watkin Williams Wynn) Branch of The Pony Club in England and Patrick Williams of the Seskinore Branch in Northern Ireland, claimed the honours on 11,947.
West Waterford’s William Verling won the senior boys' competition \ Mel Doyle
Individual winner
West Waterford’s William Verling continued his good season here, collecting the Langford Salver for winning the senior boys’ individual competition (4,515 points) in which he recorded the best run (1,144) for the John Deakin Trophy.
The Irish senior girls’ teams recorded some excellent results in the international and regional competitions in England at the start of last month.
However, for these national championships, they were dispersed back to their Branches so it wasn’t too surprising that the winners of the 13-strong team competition was the Area 17 trio of Alex Phillips (Iveagh), Sophia Williams (Seskinore) and Lauren Taylor (North Down) who posted a score of 11,172.
Best of the IPC Branch teams, and therefore winners of the Carew Cup in second, were the Tipperary Treasures comprising Anna O’Callaghan, Jane O’Donnell, Emily Fox and Katie Healy (11,144). The visiting South Durham Branch, who finished third overall, were presented with the Quorn Cup for the best riding team as all three members were clear in this phase.
A regular on the IPC international and regional teams this season, Kildare’s Ellie Dillon won the senior girls’ individual competition for the Gordon Salver with 4,176 points and was also the recipient of the Howell Trophy for best run (996).
Titans
On an excellent weekend for the Tipperary Branch, their Titans foursome of Zach Palmer, Max O’Reilly, Harry Barton and Jack Landy were presented with the Irish Pony Club Trophy as winners of the Junior boys’ team competition (13,277 points) while Alexander Maher, who was on the second-placed Golden Vale Avengers squad (12,969), won the individual contest for the Meath Branch Wellman International Trophy (4,595).
Twenty-one teams started in the junior girls’ championship for the Carew Trophy and here the winners were the Wexford Wonderbolts’ Cora Finn, Molly Hennessy Murphy, Emma Hickey and Lucy Minihan who scored 12,957 points. Newcastle Lyons finished second (12,436) with the Bedale Branch from England a place further back on 12,197.
Hickey fared best of the winning quartet individually, finishing fourth on 4,384 points behind the Duhallows’ Caroline Roche (4,538), who was presented with the Meath Branch Paul Smith Trophy, Leitrim’s Grace Quinn (4,464) and Kildare’s Isabelle Walsh (4,413).
For those keen to improve their shooting skills and scores over the winter, tetrathletes should note that a four-leg competition is taking place at the Wilkinstown Target Shooting Club in Co Meath in October (20th to 22nd), November (17th to 19th), December (8th to 10th) and January (26th to 28th). Best three scores to count. Log on to wilkinstowntsc.ie for further details.