THE Duhallow Branch of the Irish Pony Club ran a very successful fun Minimus and Tetrathlon competition on Bank Holiday Monday when there was a very early start to the swim phase at the Fermoy Leisure Centre.

From there, all the action moved to the very popular Watergrasshill venue of Ballindenisk where the Fell family very kindly donated €500 as the IPC’s fundraising drive for the Irish Cancer Society really kicked into gear. O’Brien’s Saddlery, TRI Equestrian and Pegus Horse Feeds helped with the day’s prizes.

There were 220 competitors in action, just eight of whom started in the Senior Boys’ Tetrathlon and, of these, only two held on to their full quota of points in the ride phase. These were the winner, Waterford’s Daragh Walsh (3,914) and the third-placed Co Limerick member Harry Buckley (3,643) who were split by West Waterford’s Peter Verling (3,809).

Margaret Verling (4,246) struck for West Waterford in the nine-strong Senior Girls’ competition where she recorded one of five clear rounds in the ride phase as did the runner-up, Wexford’s Cora Finn (3,940). The Duhallows’ Caroline Roche finished third on 3,892.

The host Branch posted a win in the Junior Girls’ Tetrathlon thanks to the efforts of Aoibhinn Turner (4,281) who was clear in the ride phase as were 28 others in the 50-runner field. Galway Mid County’s Hannah Hussey finished second (4,275), narrowly beating Kilkenny’s Anna Rose Hughes (4,259) into third.

Tipperary’s Jack Landy wasn’t one of the 13 who recorded a clear round in the Junior Boys’ competition but, with wins in the swim, shoot and run phases, he claimed the honours on 4,501 points. Co Limerick’s J.J. Power finished second (4,437) in this 22-starter section ahead of Carlow’s Cillian Tobin (4,399).

The Co Limerick Branch’s Archie McCartan saw off 37 rivals to win the Junior Boys’ Minimus on a total of 3,506. He dropped 200 points in the ride phase but won both the swim and ride. The runner-up, Wicklow’s Benjamin Galligan (3,434), was one of the 10 who recorded clear rounds although Dave Hennessy of Tipperary dropped 60 ride points on his way to finish third on 3,418.

In the Junior Girls’ Minimus which she won on a total of 3,622, the Ward Union’s Ailbhe Reilly held on to her 1,400 points in the ride phase as did 16 others in the 59-strong field. These included the Duhallows’ Olivia Roche (3,548) and The Kingdom’s Grainne Donnegan (3,538).

There were five clear rounds in the 11-runner Fledgling Boys’ competition, three of which were recorded by Meath’s Harvey McCarthy (2,990), Killinick’s Hugo Doran (2,926) and the Ward Union’s Cian Greene (2,754). Nine of the 14 starters in the Fledgling Girls’ class posted clear rounds including the Newcastle Lyons siblings’ Elsie (2,870) and Tamson (2,846) Clarke who sandwiched Wexford’s Faye Luby (2,852) into second.

The Kildare Branch is running a Fun Minimus and Tetrathlon competition tomorrow when the swim phase will get proceedings under way in K Leisure Athy with the shoot, run and ride phases taking place at Punchestown.