TIHA annual meeting
THE annual general meeting of the Traditional Irish Horse Association will take place in the Maldron Hotel Portlaoise on Monday, December 9th at 7pm. The AGM will be preceded by an EGM to alter the quorum requirement for an AGM.
Cathal Daniels nominated
RTÉ 2FM’s Game On revealed on Thursday the longlist of 26 nominees for the RTÉ Sport Awards 2019 Sportsperson of the Year with the final shortlist to be announced on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 on Sunday, December 8th.
Among the nominees is Galway native and Kildare-based international event rider Cathal Daniels. He is nominated for his magnificent performance at the Longines FEI Eventing European Championships in Germany to claim the individual bronze medal on the Irish-bred Rioghan Rua, owned by Galway’s Mags and Frank Kinsella. It was the first Irish senior European eventing medal win since 1995.
Darragh Maloney and Joanne Cantwell will present the RTÉ Sport Awards 2019 live on RTÉ One on Saturday, December 14th at 9.30pm. Along with the Sportsperson of the Year award the show will also see the Young Sportsperson of the Year, Team of the Year and Manager of the Year honoured as well as a new inductee to the RTÉ Sport Hall of Fame.
Explosion W sold
BEN Maher’s top mount Explosion W has been sold, but will remain with the top British rider. Poden Farms confirmed the sale of the 10-year-old gelding, who won the €1.25 million LGCT Super Grand Prix on Saturday night, to Pamela Wright and Charlotte Rossetter. The sale comes after multiple offers and a series of negotiations with Neil Moffitt, whose priority was to keep Explosion W with Maher and under the British flag.
Also in top horse sales news, Kevin Staut’s Urhelia Lutterbach has arrived in Ireland and will be ridden by 23-year-old American show jumper Kerry McCahill who is based at Greg Broderick’s Ballypatrick Stables in Tipperary. The 11-year-old mare won the five-star Grand Prix of Lyon earlier this month.
Hello Santos retired
SCOTT Brash’s 17-year-old gelding Hello Santos has been retired from show jumping. The pair were part of the gold medal-winning British team at the 2012 London Olympic Games and at the European Championships in 2013, where they also won individual bronze. They are the only combination to ever win the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping after victory in Geneva, Aachen and Spruce Meadows in 2015. He will have a retirement ceremony in Geneva on Saturday, December 14th.
Paris Arqana auction
THE Auction by Arqana is coming to the heart of Paris for an exceptional “Yearlings & Performers” sale on Thursday evening, December 5th, at the Cirque d’Hiver.
The event showcases the future superstars of show jumping, coinciding with opening night of the Longines Masters of Paris. International show jumping players, and the community of breeders, riders and owners will have the opportunity to place bids on an exciting line-up of proven performers as well as yearlings hailing from exceptional bloodlines. A team of experts has carefully selected 20 of the most promising young talents and champions with the potential to excel at the highest level on the world stage.
Former World Champion Jos Lansink and Belgian Olympian Ludo Philippaerts are joined by breeding and industry leaders Joris de Brabander, Virginie Couperie, and Carlos Pinto as members of the expert panel. The Auction will be livestreamed on Clip My Horse and on the platform www.theauction.online. For more information, visit www.theauction.online or contact Anouk Blain-Mailhot - ablain-mailhot@theauction.online +33 6 88 14 15 47
No UK hunting vote
BORIS Johnson’s Conservative manifesto pledge, published last weekend, makes no reference to reviewing the hunting laws since Tony Blair’s Labour government introduced the controversial ban in 2004. The manifesto said that a new Tory government would make “no changes to the Hunting Act”.