MANY congratulations to Scarteen’s Saoirse Hanafin who, when winning last Friday’s TRI Senior individual show jumping competition at the Irish Pony Club Festival in Barnadown, also won the bursary of a week’s residential training with leading show jumper Clem McMahon.

Fifteen-year-old Hanafin, who was presented with the Beauregard Trophy following her comfortable success, partnered her mother Annemarie’s Tinarana Global Venture, an eight-year-old Numero Uno gelding who was previously owned and evented by Rodney O’Donnell.

Saoise has been a member of the Scarteen Hunt Branch since she was six but started hunting with the pack before then! “I’ve had great support and help from both the Branch and the hunt but, more especially, from my parents Annemarie and Shane, who have bought me some lovely ponies and now horses.”

Hanafin has a developed a fondness for Barnadown as, two weeks prior to the IPC Festival, she qualified CQS Russell Foley there for the 148cms six and seven-year-old national championship at Dublin. Her year-younger brother Finbarr narrowly missed out on qualifying Tinarana Global for the RDS children on horses’ championship.

Saoirse, who says she has benefitted from recent lessons with Michael Condon, “especially when it comes to riding my course,” can keep an eye out at Dublin for Clem McMahon as she is looking forward very much to her week’s training in Co Monaghan.

In the Senior individual, Hanafin finished ahead of the Island Branch’s Holly Spencer riding the 15-year-old Aldato mare Mischa B with Killinick’s Faye Murphy slotting into third on the 10-year-old bay mare, Grove Street Lady.

Disappointingly, there was just one Branch squad, Warrington, in the Open/Senior team show jumping and they were beaten into second by their sole rivals, a composite quartet of East Donegal’s Ellie Simms and Tara Brennan plus Longford’s Katie Duignan and Calum Duignan.

Twenty three teams started in the Intermediate competition for the John Ledingham Trophy which was presented to the second Wexford quartet of Cora Finn (Shakespeare Romeo Montague), Martha Power (Cash Advance), Heather Costello (Zippyup) and Ava Donovan (Junipeirre). The Ward Union Branch finished second with Wicklow a place behind in third.

In the Junior competition for the Robbie Bailey Trophy, the South Union Branch in Area 5 saw off the challenge from 29 other teams to claim the win thanks to the efforts of Molly Egan (Jockeyhall Molly Brown), Poppy Allen (Apollo Sparky), Saoirse Tagney (Gorthanedin Mist) and Anna Moore (Smokie Joe Millar). A combined East Donegal and Leitrim foursome finished second ahead of the Island.

Tagney and the 10-year-old 148cms gelding Gorthanedin Mist finished third in the individual competition, immediately behind the Duhallows’ Edward Healy riding Clionas Clover Surprise, a 12-year-old ISH mare by Rineen Clover. Here, the winner of the Gerry G Trophy was Kildare Branch member Alice Curley who was fastest in the jump-off on board the 14-year-old piebald mare, L.A. Dream Machine.

While most of the TRI show jumping action took place on Friday, the Under 12s’ competition for the Alice Mernagh Trophy was held on Thursday when Lucy Bailey (BBS Wildflower), Ollie Walsh (Ivy Rose), Cian Goff (Kiltown King) and Fionnán Nolan (Chocolate Sauce) claimed the honours for the Island Branch with the Killinicks finishing second.

Willow O’Connor, a member of the third-placed Duhallow team, won the individual competition with Shangan Ritmo, a 16-year-old 128cms gelding with whom she is enjoying a great season under Show Jumping Ireland rules. Galway Mid County’s Tristan O’Conaola is also having a good season in SJI company on the 26-year-old 128cms gelding Bili Ffwl with whom he finished second here ahead of the Killinicks’ Hazel Slattery and the seven-year-old Connemara mare Breolle Mist.