THE Kildare Branch recorded some excellent results at last weekend’s Irish Pony Club/Connolly’s Red Mills eventing championships in Ballindenisk at Open, Junior and Under 12 levels.

Unfortunately, no teams vied for the Irish Pony Club rose bowl in the Open competition where the individual honours went to Kildare’s Emma Egan and Ballytoher Sabrina, a combination which had a good result also at the recent Tetrathlon championships.

Well up to the pressure of show jumping last on Sunday, 16-year-old Egan completed on her winning dressage score (29.1 penalties) with the 12-year-old Ballytoher Sabrina who is now nearly white although registered as a piebald.

The Ward Union’s Emily Cosgrove jumped up from fifth after dressage (35.5) to second thanks to her double clear on Clonross Razzmatazz, while East Donegal’s Jill McGettigan lost out on the runner-up slot when a pole down show jumping brought her total on Watermill Hollie up to 36.6. This pair were jointly awarded the Connolly’s Red Mills bursary while Egan won the feed company-sponsored Open league on 25 points ahead of Cosgrove (16).

While Egan was warmed up at the weekend by Michelle Nelson, who used to own Ballytoher Sabrina, and Jean Halpenny, it was in the absence of her long-term coach Jane Kinsella. The plan now for pony and rider is to compete in a couple of Eventing Ireland one-days. Egan spent a week of her TY year working with leading event rider Joseph Murphy.

The well-mounted Kildare Maltesers quartet of Julia Adams (Toberpatrick Flash), Alex Connors (Millridge Buachaill Bui), Grace Murtagh (Bruckless Elmar) and Shane Fitzgerald (Dejay) narrowly won the Junior team championship for the Tommy Brennan trophy on a score of 84.8 penalties ahead of the Limerick Leaders (85.6) and Meath Hawks (88.1).

Only seven of the 34 teams who started failed to complete and, in most instances, they were three-rider teams. There were four eliminations for falls at this level, two of those coming on the flat between the Normandy Bank at eight and the Keyhole at nine.

JUNIOR

Four arenas were in use for the Junior team competition and the winners were the Islands’ Caitroin Doyle on the 12-year-old bay gelding Garryfine Cross, Meath’s Lucie Glynn with the 10-year-old Connemara gelding Bramblebrough Eoghan (on whom she was won five EI90P classes this season), the Kildares’ Grace Murtagh with another Connemara gelding, the 13-year-old Bruckless Elmar on whom her sisters Caroline and Lauren competed before her, and Emily Heagney of the Limerick Branch with the 13-year-old chesnut gelding Hailleys Comet.

The Junior individual arena, for those not on a team, was claimed by the Brays’ Clodie Coen who completed on her winning dressage score with the 10-year-old Master Imp gelding, Ballinglen Susies Master. She was presented with the Billy Julian trophy.

The inaugural Under 12 championship was very well supported with 15 teams competing for the Broomfield trophy of which 12 team completed.

The winners on a score of 80.5 were the Kildare Refreshers squad of Anna White (Breakfast At Tiffanys), Ben Connors (Twyford Captain Morgan), Rachael Doyle (Epic Wildfire) and in the in-form combination of Claire O’Ryan on Carriganog Prince. All four team members completed on their dressage scores. The Mighty Islands finished second (82.8) ahead of the Tipperary Tornados (86.4).

All four arenas winners were in the lead after dressage and they were Tipperary’s Aine Connolly with Breeze Up, Ava Dowley of the Island Branch on Magical Milly, the Killinicks’ Isabelle Barry riding Sandy Banks and Waterford’s Gearoid Butler with Freemount Tayto.

Apart from a delay to the Intermediate presentation due to a query, the championships ran very smoothly thanks for the efforts of the IPC’s eventing committee, chaired by Dr Marina Brennan; Catherine Healy, Helena Hurley and all Area 5 Branches; Kate Fell and the scoring team; and, of course, those in the IPC office in Urlingford.

As ever, the organisation and its members are most appreciative of the sponsorship from Connolly’s Red Mills whose Paudge Gill was on hand as usual for the presentations.