EIGHTEEN under 17 riders and 16 open riders took to the Green Glens arena in Milstreet last weekend for the world and European Irish team trials.

The under 17 riders battled it out before the final where just eight riders would compete. Out of the eight under 17 riders that made it through to the final stages of the trial, only five would be chosen to represent Ireland at the world team championships in July. Eoin Reavey took control early on in the final winning the first four races, giving himself a comfortable lead. His nearest rival, 17 points behind, was George Connolly followed closely by Ciaran O’Leary.

When the last race was over, Reavey was in first place followed by O’Leary 10 points behind him. Brothers Stevie and Leo Kieran had a ding dong battle throughout the 10 races, when competing on par with one another until the last race where Stevie scored seven points to finish third overall. Leo finished just behind him in fourth. The fifth and final place on the team went to the ever consistent George Connolly.

OPEN TEAM TRIALS

From the 16 open riders, the top five would be selected for the world championships in Millstreet and the next five would travel to Luhmullen in Germany for the European Championships.

Prominent from the outset was Craig O’Connor riding his new mount Clonmoyle Milly. At the end of the first session, he emerged 13.5 points clear of his cousin Jake riding Killycloughan Sonata aka Izzy. Alan Keogan riding Nessa was close behind as was Ben O’Connor riding GTI Milchem, the 14hh gelding who started his career in show jumping but has made a successful transition to mounted games.

Also making it through to the top eight was Jamie Reavey riding newcomer Brogan, Kate O’Connor riding Flatly (aka Spike), Philip Weldon riding Blix and Aido Hanlon on Scooby who is 21 years young.

All open competitors carried their scores forward to the final session of the trials on Sunday. Craig and Jake O’Connor got off to a shaky start in the bank race but Jamie Reavey and Alan Keogan showed no signs of nerves coming first and second respectively.

Jake settled in quickly and bar a few mistakes scored consistently closing the gap between him and the long-time leader, Craig, to half a point. Jamie Reavey also scored well and gained 51 points to finish in overall fourth place. Alan and Ben O’Connor finished steadily mid-division to hold on to third and fifth places.

With the world championships team decided, Kate O’Connor, Aido Hanlon and Philip Weldon filled the first three places on the European team.

The remaining riders stepped up to compete for the last two available places. After a further 10 games, only fractions divided them. Mark Devitt finished half a point ahead of Peter McCarthy and Simon McKeever to secure his place on the European team.

The final place on the European team came down to a tie breaker race with Peter emerging victorious and claiming the final team spot.

Well done to everyone who took part and best of luck to all the teams competing at the European and world championships.

OPEN WORLD TEAM

  • Craig O’Connor
  • Jake O’Connor
  • Ben O’Connor
  • Alan Keoghan
  • Jamie Reavey

    • OPEN EUROPEAN TEAM

  • Kate O’Connor
  • Aido Hanlon
  • Philip Weldon
  • Peter McCarthy
  • Mark Devitt

    • U17 WORLD TEAM

  • Eoin Reavey
  • Ciaran O’Leary
  • Stevie Kieran
  • Leo Kieran
  • George Connolly

    • JUNIOR EUROPEAN TEAM

  • TBC