Chris Hunt elected chair of Eventing Ireland

CHRIS Hunt was unanimously elected Eventing Ireland’s new chairman at their AGM on Wednesday night. Chris has served on the Board of Eventing Ireland for a year and is known to many as the owner of Cork-based Global Event Horse alongside international event rider Brian Morrison. Chris said of his appointment: “I would like to thank the Board for electing me as Chairman and I look forward to the challenges ahead. It is a pleasure to work with such a strong and committed Board and head office all striving to improve both our sport and organisation.”

David O’Meara has taken the position of Vice Chairman. In addition, the Board welcomed new members in Rodney O’Donnell (events director), Bridget McGing (general membership) and Michael Ryan (riders’ director).

Romanov standing at Castlefield Farm

BERTRAM Allen has announced his five-star winning stallion Romanov will stand at Ger O’Neill’s Castlefield Breeding Farm in Kilkenny this season. Part of the Aga Khan-winning team in 2015, the stallion was retired from the sport in 2017 after multiple wins at the highest level. He will be available for Irish breeders from the Bennettsbridge, Co Kilkenny yard. For more information contact Ger O’Neill on 086 384 4560.

Meanwhile, Ballywalter Stables this week announced the sale of Carlo 454 to Southern Arches. He will be ridden in the future by America’s Callie Schott. The 11-year-old grey gelding by Conthargos has been ridden by Harry Allen since September 2021 when he arrived at Ballywalter. Bertram took over the reins this season and brought him to the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, USA, where they recently finished third in a four-star 1.50m class.

Vote for your Star

DON’T forget to vote for The Irish Field/Gain Equine Nutrition January Star of the Month online now. The nominees are the Irish senior show jumping team, Shane Breen, Richard Howley and Mark McAuley. Voting closes next Thursday, February 24th, as midnight. Visit www.theirishfield.ie/star to vote for your favourite.

Brianna Lynch memorial race this weekend

TOMORROW (Sunday) the North Tipperary Hunt point-to-point meet will feature a memorial race for the late Brianna Lynch, organised by her mother Arabella Scanlon, for junior riders under rules. As well as the North Tipperary Hunt Club, many people have very generously donated prizes for Brianna’s memorial race which is very much appreciated by Arabella. Many thanks to anyone who helped in any way with this event.

Markets regulation

DUBLIN South Central TD Patrick Costello (Greens) recently tabled a question to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue (FF) whether inspectors from DAFM attend horse markets and the paperwork checks required.

Minister McConalogue stated that “Horse sales are regulated under S.I. 113 of 2014 - Control on places where horses are kept regulations 2014. This regulation requires the person organising a sale to keep a record of the date of the sale, the identity of the horses presented for sale and the names and addresses of persons selling and buying the horses presented for sale. These records must be kept for two years.

“Department officers who are authorised under the Animal, Health and Welfare Act 2013, can enter and inspect any premises where animals are kept. Department inspectors carry out inspections on a risk basis at horse sales.”

Diamant de Semilly dies

LEGENDARY show jumping stallion Diamant de Semilly died in his field on Tuesday, aged 31. The son of Le Tot de Semilly was hugely successful during his career under France’s Eric Levallois. The pair won team gold at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez and became French champions the same year. They were part of the silver medal-winning team at the 2003 European Championships and won multiple Grands Prix.

Diamant was retired in 2008 for breeding. He topped the World Breeding Federation show jumping sire rankings in 2015 and 2016, and finished runner-up to Chacco-Blue in 2021. He sired multiple stallion sons like Emerald van’t Ruytershof, Quickly de Kreisker, Don VHP Z, Dominator 2000 Z, Mumbai, Comme Il Faut and more.