Wednesday, August 10, 2011
FRANCIS CONNORS has been competing at Millstreet Horse Show for "about 35 years", and is determined to add to his good memories of the Cork event this week.
The Waterford rider is a 10-time national champion and accepted as one of the best exponents of the sport.
That, though, does not guarantee success and, while he mostly remembers the good times, he admits his aspirations have not always been fulfilled at Millstreet, which begins its five-day stint today.
"I’ve been going to Millstreet for about 35 years and have many happy memories of good shows," he said, before quipping "but there have been bad times for me too. I’m hoping this week will be more the former. We always go with expectation and, realistically, I would hope that we can pay our way and anything after that will be a bonus." said the veteran rider.
"All my horses at last week’s Dublin Horse Show were in great form, but I was only in the money a couple of times, so it was disappointing, considering they were jumping so well. Perhaps, it was the rider," he joked.
The show’s feature event is Sunday’s grand prix.
"I never won the big class when it was the derby, but came second four times, though I did win it as the grand prix four years ago with Merlin’s Magic," said Connors, who will ride Heracross, the horse that showed his pedigree on the same day in 2007 when winning the Boomerang class for six and seven-year-olds.
Heracross continues to be a useful foil, having won the grand prix at Balmoral recently, while Connors also brings Westwinds Cirracruise and his Charleville Grand Prix winner Dannson. Connors missed last year’s show, but he wasn’t alone, after ShowjumpingIreland (SJI) warned its members not to attend the event. This was because it was unaffiliated, as a result of a dispute between the association and organiser Noel C Duggan, whose claim that the SJI’s insurance cover was deficient was given credence in a recently-published independent report.
While some stayed away last year, large numbers defied the threat of sanction by their association to attend what was a hugely successful show.
SJI members have no reason to be fearful this week, though, because in a ruling that has rocked the sport, the Competition Authority recently found the SJI was in breach of the 2002 Competition Act with its rule 299N, which imposes fines and suspensions on members that attend unaffiliated shows. The authority’s finding came on foot of a complaint by Duggan and, as a result, the SJI has suspended rule 299N, ostensibly while it considers the implications of the ruling.
The bottom line is that, as Mr Duggan said, Millstreet will be even "bigger and better", and large numbers of competitors are expected to battle it out for the €100,000 on off at the Green Glens, which has seen major investment and will cater for 91 competitions in eight sand arenas.
Today’s main attraction will be a qualifier for the popular Boomerang Competition (6/7-year-old horses), with the final as a curtain-raiser for Sunday’s grand prix. Tomorrow sees the first of the grand prix qualifiers, while Friday’s Six-Bar class always proves entertaining. Saturday is dominated by the Millstreet Derby, followed by the Speed Derby, while Sunday’s Millstreet Grand Prix is scheduled to begin at 3pm. and entry is free.
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