ANNE Byrne, chair of the committee which ran the fund-raising lunch at Tattersalls on the Friday of the international event, was in touch to say that in excess of €35,000 (and counting) was collected for St John’s Ward and Cancer Research for Crumlin Children’s Hospital (CMRS).

Anne, who only had to totter over the road in her high heels, was backed-up by a great committee comprising mainly Ward Union Pony Club-associated ladies such as ex-District Commissioner Katie Greene, the present incumbent Orlagh Sherry, secretary Miriam Coakley, Lucy Donegan, Carol Stone and a bevy of hard-working ticket sellers.

The largely, but not exclusively, female attendance enjoyed a drinks’ reception in the garden of the main house before moving indoors where Tracy Piggott was MC for the day. She is pictured above with the meet and greet team, which was made up of mainly WUPC members whose even younger club mates handed over €555 to the fund after a bucket collection on Saturday morning.

Before the main course, guests were addressed by Siobhan Broderick, one of two oncology nurses from Crumlin who attended the function. Her emotional speech inspired people to dig deep during the Alastair Pim-conducted auction, where among the items on offer were visits, with lunch, to the yards of Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott, a visit to Coolmore Stud and Ballydoyle and two memberships for Fairyhouse.

Bidding was fast and furious for two paintings. The first, The Weighting Game, was by Rita Teevan, while the second, Hounds Parading at Tattersalls, was the work of local artist John Fitzgerald. A raffle offered such prizes as a day’s hunting with the Ward Union Staghounds, tickets for the Curragh races and the Dublin Horse Show and a lesson with leading local event rider Sarah Ennis.

While a fashion show staged by Nayles and Rase of Dunboyne wound up the official proceedings, many of the 300 guests stayed on to enjoy the good weather on the terrace, in the shopping village or out on the cross-country course.

“We had guests ranging from 14 years of age to 90 who came from the worlds of racing, eventing, hunting and the Pony Club and also people who nothing to do with horses,” reported Anne. “I would like to thank them all for coming, for their generosity during the auction and, of course, special thanks to the team at Tattersalls Ireland for all their assistance.”