THE Duhallow Branch of the Irish Pony Club ran a successful Fun Minimus and Tetrathlon day on Bank Holiday Monday, in spite of having to make a late alteration to the venue for their shooting, running and riding phases.

These were scheduled to take place at Kilguilkey House, but had to be changed following the sad death on Friday of Michael Fitzmaurice, father of Kilguilkey House’s Michelle Dulohery to whom we in The Irish Field extend our deepest sympathies.

The Fell family, who were just recovering from hosting their first international event of the year the previous weekend, kindly offered to help out the Duhallows and swiftly opened up Ballindenisk for the large entry, who had to travel over from the swimming pool in Mallow. Barbara Roche, the Duhallows’ District Commissioner, and her team have to be complimented for dealing with the situation.

The Co Limerick Branch won three of the day’s competitions, starting with the Senior Boys, where Sonny McCartan claimed the spoils on a total of 3,908 points. Tipperary’s Conor Hayes, who, unlike McCartan, held on to his full 1,400 points in the ride (as did four others in the 19-runner field), finished second (3,833). Co Limerick’s Nathan Ruttle slotted into third (3,777).

West Waterford’s Peter Verling, who topped the scores in the shoot (860) and run (1,015), finished third in the swim (1,098), but had a very disappointing ride score (300), while North Kilkenny’s Seán Cooke won the swim phase having amassed 1,215 points in the pool.

Five of the 15 starters in the Senior Girls’ competition also held on to their full ride scores, including Leitrim’s in-form Grace Quinn, who won the swim (1,124), was second in the shoot (850) and fifth in the run (876) for a winning total of 4,250. Also clear across the country, Wexford’s Cora Finn finished second on 4,040, while Victoria Roche did her bit for the hosts by winning the shoot (890) en route to placing third overall on 4,026. Roche’s Duhallow teammate Grace Forde was joint-winner of the run with Galway Mid County’s Isabella Devitt, both having amassed 900 points.

The West Waterford Branch won both Junior level classes. First up, the 19-strong Boys’ competition went the way of the consistent Oisin Whelan who, with 940 points, was joint-first in the shoot with the Duhallows’ Edward Healy. He then finished fifth in the swim (1,160), was one of 10 clear in the ride and filled the runner-up spot in the run (1,110) for a total of 4,610. Healy finished second with 4,573 points, ahead of Co Limerick’s Alex Barry (4,481). South Westmeath’s Harry Lowe topped the swim scores on 1,344, while Billy Moriarty won the run (1,130) for The Kingdom Branch.

Junior girls

There were 39 starters in the Junior Girls’ competition, which was dominated by West Waterford’s Margaret Verling. She won the shoot (900 points), was third in the swim (1,276), was one of 15 clear in the ride (1,400), and topped the scores in the run (1,120) for a total of 4,696. Duhallow’s Caroline Roche, who was second in both the shoot and swim, and joint-third in the run, finished overall second on 4,613, with Kildare’s Isabelle Walsh finishing third on 4,328.

Carlow’s Jack Hargaden was consistent across the three-phases of the Boys’ Minimus competition, which he won on a total of 3,446 points. Co Limerick’s Archie McCartan, who won the swim phase (1,088) was second overall on 3,380, while the Killinicks’ Max Doran, who topped the run scores (1,138), finished third (3,368). Of the 31 starters, only Co Limerick’s Henry Myers and Duhallow’s Andrew Sweetnam, who was competing hors concours, were clear in the ride phase.

Limerick on form

The Co Limericks recorded a second win in the Girls’ Minimus through the determined efforts of Grace Power who, having finished fourth (1,064 points) in the swim, was one of 18 who went clear in the ride (1,400), and then saw off her 56 rivals to win (1,180) the run en route to a total of 3,644. Also clear in the ride were Kilkenny’s Caroline Hughes, who won the swim (1,184) and filled the overall runner-up slot (3,596), and Duhallow’s Ciara Howard, who finished third (3,592).

There were just 11 starters in the Boys’ Fledglings class, where the Co Limerick Branch was on the mark again through Sean Foster, who was second in the swim (784), was one of six who recorded a clear ride round, and then won the run (1,018) for a total of 3,302. Tipperary’s James Hennessy finished second (3,108) ahead of his teammate Jack O’Connor (3,076). The swim phase was won (936) by Co Limerick’s George Kennedy.

The Kingdom’s Aisling O’Driscoll may have been last of 25 to compete in the Girls’ Fledglings class but, having finished fourth (792 points) in the pool in Mallow, she proved unbeatable at Ballindenisk, where she was one of seven to hold on to her full 1,400 ride points, and won the run (928) to claim victory on a total of 3,120. North Kilkenny’s Lucy O’Connell lost 60 points in the ride and was second to O’Driscoll in the other two phases, which saw her amass 3,080 points while Tipperary’s Fern O’Reilly was third on 2,946. Bella Hayes of the Laois Branch won the swim with 912 points.

And it’s the Laois Branch who will be hosting the next Irish Pony Club Fun Minimus and Tetrathlon day on Sunday, May 26th, at Stradbally.