THE Tipperary Hunt Branch of the Irish Pony Club held their leg of the Connolly’s Red Mills eventing qualifiers last Sunday at Grove where the cross-country course was built by Graham Bell under the supervision of the Bradys.

While we would usually start an event report at the higher levels, on this occasion we are beginning with the Under 12s’ competition, both divisions of which were won by the hosts.

The in-form Anna Kennedy landed Section A on her hugely impressive dressage score of 12 penalties with the 17-year-old Gloves Bobby gelding Savanose Bobby while Isobel Landy, who was first into the Section B dressage arena, recorded a far narrower victory on her winning flat work mark with the 11-year-old coloured mare Samarah.

The Tipperarys fielded another winner on the day in Lucy Meagher who followed up her victory at Stradbally Hall a week earlier when recording an all-the-way success in Section A of the Junior competition on the 13-year-old bay gelding Cosmic Call.

The other Junior winners were The Kingdom’s Willow Molloy who was left in front in Section B on the 18-year-old Wings Of Justice mare Bring Me Luck, Scarteen’s Jamie Crowe who led from start to finish in Section C on the 20-year-old chesnut gelding Castlequarter Rambo and Kildare’s Juliet Moran who benefited from others’ ill-fortune in the jumping phases to win Section D on board the nine-year-old Corlough Clover mare Peninsula Clover.

It was great to see the Tipperarys run an Open competition which attracted 12 entries of which 10 started. Co Limerick’s Ben Buckley led narrowly following the dressage phase on 26 penalties but with his closest rival lowering two show jumping fences, he was left clear to win on Tullabeg Flamenco, the 2009 Tullabeg Fusion gelding Sam Watson rode at the 2021 Olympic Games.

The Open was the only competition not divided on the day as the Ponsonby family’s lovely Fethard estate once again proved its popularity with IPC members.

The Scarteen Branch initiated a double when Avril Rea recorded an all-the-way victory in Section A of the Intermediate riding the Irish Sport Horse gelding DSL The Explorer, the Cormint seven-year-old on whom she won the EI80 national championship at Kilguilkey House last September. The West Waterford Branch likewise initiated a double in Section B where Siofra Marsh completed on her winning dressage score with the 17-year-old S Creevagh Ferro gelding MicMacs First.

The West Waterford double came up in Section A of the Intro Intermediate where Caoilainn Foley completed on another excellent dressage score (17 penalties) with the traditionally-bred ISH gelding Monatrea Xavier, a 2008 bay son of Riyalan. The honours in Section B were claimed by Co Longford’s Emma Kenny who also led throughout with the 11-year-old grey gelding Ruby Menlo Kelly’s Boy.

We will carry a report on the Killinicks’ mid-week qualifier at Sleedagh Farm in next week’s edition.