The August Bank Holiday weekend saw the Amateur Showjumping fraternity descend on Claremorris, Co. Mayo for the National Amateur Showjumping Championships at the Claremorris School of Equitation.

The first class of the 2014 Championships was the Claremorris Saddlery sponsored Power & Speed which saw a strong field take on the Charles Hanley built course, which included last year’s National Speed Champion Seamus Og Campbell from Donegal. Tipperary native, Lorna Conroy proved t be the one to catch early on in this class going clear in a time of 32.03. She held that lead until just over the half way stage when the reigning champion, Seamus Og Campbell rode a superb round that left the other riders under no illusion that he was there to retain his title. He left them all standing in a time of 29.85 and this proved uncatchable. Galway’s Norman Tierney, jumping at his first championships gave it a great try but had to settle for third in a time of 32.54.

The next class of the day was the eagerly anticipated; Schockemohle Sports sponsored Mini Grand Prix which saw nearly forty riders take on the track. Just eight A riders and five AA riders managed to complete the first round with all the fences standing, which made for an exciting jump off. Early leader Pamela Jackman and her mount Danagher had a double clear in 32.04, but just two horses later saw Fran Rush riding her husband Kenneth’s Zero Wattage, with a cool head and a keen eye stooping the clock in 27.47 to cheers from the crowd. The only other rider to deliver a double clear was Waterford native Patrick Ronayne in a time of 33.67 to give him third place, behind Pamela Jackman.
The Brooklands Bedding & Gain Horse Feeds Amateur Derby attracted a good entry and made for some great entertainment. Tipperary’s Joanna Penfold and her horse King Cruise took the spoils here, with Waterford’s Thomas O’ Riordan on Garranfada Bosun taking second, followed by Banagher man, Jonathan Guinan on board Banagher Coronado.

The last class of day one was the Shavings.ie/Pegus Horse Feeds sponsored Masters, which saw two riders; Loran Conroy and Marita Byrne go to six rounds. Unfortunately Patrick Ronayne had a pole on the ground in the fifth round and had to settle for third place. With the two ladies going clear in the sixth round, they decided to share the spoils and divide the class. It was a cracking end to the days jumping. On a sad note, Seamus Og Campbell championships came to an end in the Masters class, when he and his mount Killymard Flight took a tumble in the 4th round but thankfully the Donegal man is now home and on the road to recovery.

Day two of the National Amateur Championships saw the day’s proceedings kick off with the eagerly awaited Irish Farmers Journal Final. A shortened field saw 23 combinations take on the track, with 11 making it through to the jump off. First to go was Galway man, Norman Tierney, and the Moycullen native sure made his presence felt when he went clear in the jump off in a time of 31.23. Next to challenge him was Donegal native, Martin McGowan who jumped another crisp double clear round in a time of 37.62 to take eventual 6th place, much to the delight of the crowd.

Another debutante to the National Amateur Championships, Danielle Murphy riding Noggus Black Beauty showed no signs of nerves when she stopped the clock in a time of 34.86 which would give the Athlone native eventual 5th place.
Gerald Penfold gave it a great shot but was also short of Tierney’s time to finish in a time of 33.06 to finish 3rd in the class.

With only three combinations left to go in the class, in came Sligo native, Adrian Gilmartin whose mount Picapelo left them all standing in a blistering pace and moved into pole position in a time of 29.94. Last to go Deirdre Dolan was the only one who stood between Gilmartin and victory, she was not one to go down without a fight and kept the turns tight and stopped the clock in 33.10 to finish in 4th place. Delighted with his win, Adrian wished to thank the sponsors for the great support.

The penultimate class of the championships was the Speed Table C class sponsored by St. Jarlaths Credit Union, Wers Waste, Corrib Oil and Tuam Mart, IFA Galway and NCF, Claremorris, Co. Mayo. It proved another hotly contested class which saw Pamela Jackman take the early lead only to be knocked back into eventual third place by Seamus Lavan, who must have thought he had enough done to take the class. Joanna Penfold had other ideas, showing a clean pair of heels and left all others for dust. She had enough done to win the class, despite the best efforts of Aisling McGrath on board DoneDeal. The win was enough to give Penfold the overall title of National Amateur Speed Champion 2014.

The National Amateur Champion title went down to the wire with Pat Ronayne out in front, closely followed by Marita Byrne and Lorna Conroy, it all came down to the Grand Prix.

Once again Martin McGowan set the early target for the others to chase and that they did. It proved to be a nail biting jump off with the ladies, Jacinta Walsh, Lorna Conroy and Joanna Penfold trading places to finish fourth, third and second respectively, and the latter also took fifth place, but all had to give way to the blistering round by Paul Carroll and his horse, Shalamar Montana, who broke the bean in 27.63 to give him the Galway Crystal sponsored Grand Prix Title. Galway girl, Cora Horan took sixth place on board Coronado, with Grainne McGarry seventh on board, Aramis Encore, with initial path finder, Martin McGowan finishing in eighth place followed by Aisling McGrath in ninth and Jonathan Guinan in tenth place.

The fourth place as enough to see Lorna Conroy crowned National Amateur Champion 2014 with Ronayne picking up four faults in his first round and Marita Byrne having one time fault in her first round.

The two days jumping saw great comrades compete alongside each other and provided spectators with a weekend of great entertainment. This concludes the two year term of the Connaught Region hosting the National Amateur Championships, with Munster taking the reins next year.