TEN young riders, representing seven Branches of the Irish Pony Club, took part in an exhibition race over four and a half furlongs at Leopardstown last Sunday.

The aspiring jockeys had all undergone training at the Racing Academy and Centre of Education (RACE) in Kildare with Aine O’Connor (jockey coaching programme overseer and one of Ireland’s leading amateur jockeys). On Sunday, they walked the course with top flat jockey Seamie Heffernan (a Pony Club parent himself) who not only gave them tips about how to ride the track but also spoke of his own career in the saddle.

Once the field were lined-up for this historic race, the flag was dropped by Willie Gibbons who has worked at Leopardstown for 40 years and had the honour of starting a race for the first time at the south Co Dublin track.

With the usual exciting commentary by Jerry Hannon, the pace was set by Laois member Senan Farrell on Briar Cottage Boy who were quickly taken on by Carlow’s Cillian Tobin riding Clonaltra Holly. However, the race changed dramatically in the closing stages as Kildare Branch member Christopher Pugh riding Marble Hill Chester, on the inner, and Carlow’s Rosie Fitzgerald with Crumble, on the outer, arrived with their challenges to win and place second respectively with Farrell keeping on to finish third.

Twelve-year-old Christopher Pugh has a racing pedigree as his mother Jennifer, who is Senior Medical Officer with the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, and his father Richard, who is Head of Racing and Insights at Horse Racing Ireland, started riding out racehorses as soon as they could and partnered plenty of winners.

They were both in the winner’s enclosure on Sunday to welcome their son home on Marble Hill Chester who only joined the Pugh yard two months ago. The 12-year-old gelding was led up by Christopher’s younger brother Conor (10) who, too, is a member of the Kildares and also rides this pony.

While racing might be the winning jockey’s first love (he was second in the IPC race at the Punchestown Festival), during the year he did Minimus and was a member of the large Irish squad who travelled to England where his team finished third. He was also a member of the third-placed Kildare team at the IPC championships in Clonshire in June. He will do Tetrathlon next year.

Marble Hill Chester and Christopher Pugh (right) win the Irish Pony Club Exhibition Race from Crumble (Rosie Fitzgerald) and Briar Cottage Boy (Seanan Farrell) \ Healy Racing Photo

He also competed in some of the IPC eventing qualifiers over the summer while, on the weekend before the Leopardstown race, he took part in the Tinahely Riding Club hunter trials at Coolboy. No doubt, when he gets the chance, Christopher will be out hunting over the winter.

Although neither she nor Richard were members of a Pony Club Branch, Jennifer Pugh commented: “I have to say I can’t speak highly enough of the Pony Club and their support of these races.”

The other young riders who took part on Sunday were Lily Maloney and Mark O’Leary of the Bray Branch, Eliza Kavanagh (Carlow), Ben Kenny (Newcastle Lyons), Isabelle McKeever (Louth) and Laragh Molloy (Shillelagh). It was a busy couple of days for Lily who passed her B Test on Saturday. After the race, all riders were invited into the Stewards’ Room by the IHRB’s Liam Walsh to watch a re-run of the race – they were all amazed at the number of camera angles available to the Stewards.

The race was sponsored by Leopardstown Racecourse whose support is most appreciated by the Irish Pony Club who were delighted with the great feedback they received since Sunday.

The prizes were presented by Rosemary Crosse, chairperson of the Board of the IPC.