THE Wexford Hunt Minstrels were crowned Auto Boland Jaguar and Land Rover/Irish Pony Club national minimus champions last Sunday having seen off the challenge of 60 other teams in Co Kilkenny. They also won the best mixed team award, bridging a gap of 30 years.

The successful quartet included one relative newcomer to the sport, Emma Hickey, who kept her full 1,400 points from the ride phase, as did Michael Bowe and Cillian Crosbie. The Minstrels, who also counted Lucy Minahan in their line-up, took the title on a total of 10,430 points ahead of the Wicklow Warriors (Charlotte Goor, Tianne Kelly, Ellen Medlycott and Joseph Morrissery) who were on 10,378 for second. The South Westmeath Superstars (Amelie Henson, Lucy O’Rourke, Harry Lowe and Christina Whittaker) had a completion score of 9,824 to place third.