THE Killinick branch bridged a gap of 21 years last Saturday when winning the teams of three competition at the Irish Pony Club/Mackey national hunter trials championships in Annaharvey Farm.
Over a course designed and built by Sam Deverell, who is chairman of Eventing Ireland’s course designer committee, the winners, Killinick Green, lowered one of the two knockable fences on the course but, in 4.52, were just over a minute faster than the second-placed Ward Union Gold trio.
The successful team comprised Andrea Dempsey (17) on the 13-year-old Rantis Diamond gelding Poulatar Diamond and the Ronan brothers, Frank (18) and Walter (15), riding Alfie and Skippy respectively. Disappointingly, only eight teams competed in the feature class with half of these being eliminated.
The Ward Union team, who too picked up five penalties but in 5.54, was made up of Emily Cosgrove (14) on the 11-year-old Zero Watt gelding O Henry Says, Zoe Coakley (19) riding Olympic Flash and Abbie Mallaghan (15) with the well-related Annaghmore Echolin.
The last-named is a seven-year-old mare by The Echo Factor who was bred by leading Irish international show jumper Marion Hughes.
As pleased as the Killinick green team were with claiming the Irish Pony Club challenge cup, the result was of immense satisfaction to Club chairman Larry O’Keeffe who was on duty as one of the fence stewards on Saturday. “To say I’m delighted would be an understatement!” enthused O’Keeffe. “We last won down in Jill Moran’s in Askeaton 21 years ago when the team was Julie Mernagh, Catriona Murphy and Diane Stafford.
“I’m really pleased for all our riders at the championships on Saturday but particularly for these three members who have worked so hard for this success.
Andrea Dempsey hasn’t been with us that long but she did a wonderful job of leading the team, while the Ronan brothers, who are grandsons of the great Co Wexford breeder Walter Kent in Adamstown, do a lot of hunting and are hardy chaps.
“There were only three dedicated Pony Club hunter trials advertised on the Irish Pony Club website this year and two of those were in Co Wexford which I think explains a lot. We ran one ourselves at Forth Mountain last Saturday and our neighbours, the Wexfords, ran one the Saturday before that. They actually beat us twice in the team event at those two hunter trials but finished behind us on Saturday.”
The young members of that Wexford Purple Squad, who finished third with 15 penalties in 5.34, were Annie Finn (15) on Coolkenno Lad, Ellen Ronan (14) with Tírna and Niamh Redmond (14) riding Little Romeo.
“It was disappointing that only eight teams competed and we had two of them with our other trio of Anna-Mai Stafford, Alannah Lacey and Edmond Cleary, finishing fourth,” continued O’Keeffe. “We’re still an old-fashioned branch and, as much as possible, try to hold our rallies, etc on farms and not go into equestrian centres.
“I think this helps considerably with the members’ riding as they have to cope with grass underfoot and big open spaces.
TECHNICAL TRACK
“It was a technical track on Saturday and took riding. We were marking fence 12 and, in the Junior pairs’ competition, quite a lot of the starters didn’t even get that far. However, it is a championship and you’d expect a tough course.”
On Saturday, 15-year-old Alannah Lacey was riding the talented and versatile Irish Draught stallion Killinick Bouncer whose owner, Ann Lambert, was on one of the successful Killinick teams of three in the past along with her brother Tony and Scott Mernagh.
“Alannah only asked me for a loan of the stallion about a fortnight before the championships and rode him two or three times a week since. I don’t know how much more Pony Club stuff he’ll do as he’s heading for the riding club circuit now to be ridden by Sue Corish of Carne,” said Lambert, who, hopefully, will have more successful days herself on the 13-year-old son of Grange Bouncer.