Riders, Owners and Horses were all honoured last Saturday in the Killashee House Hotel for the annual Showjumpers Club Awards.  However, the top honours were bestowed onto Tommy Wade who was entered into the Hall of Fame.

Regular MC Brendan McArdle was joined for the first time by regular Showjumping competitor Brian Purcell and the pair kept the crowds well entertained for the duration of the Awards.

The major winners throughout 2013 were duly rewarded leading up to the coveted Hall of Fame award.  Previous recipients of the Hall of Fame are none other than Comdt. John Ledingham, Leslie Fitzpatrick, Paul Darragh among others.  

Tommy Wade is a name like very few others.  So many will recall watching him on the great little horse Dundrum winning Grand Prix and Nations Cup around Europe in the early 1960’s including winning the Aga Khan in 1963.  That same year, Wade won all five International classes at the Dublin Horse Show, a feat that speaks volumes for the drive and determination of the man.

In Michael Slavin’s book, Irish Showjumping Legends, he wrote; ‘’Tommy thought, dreamed and schemed about being first and he usually was.’’  

This is a very accurate comment to make about the Wade.  Wins came all across Europe while in 1962, he was told about the prizes of a Gold watch in Brussels, a Gold tankard in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and a Gold medal for the SJAI Championships in Belfast.  He won all three and all three prizes remain with him today.  Even now, the Tipperary native remains the only Equestrian person to be in the Irish Sports Hall of Fame.
As a Chef D’Equipe he claimed over 30 Nations Cup wins at some of the biggest shows in the World at Aachen, Dublin, Rotterdam, Hickstead, Calgary, La Baule and more with some of these coming more than once.

However, two highlights will undoubtedly stick out in Wade’s mind and they are the Team Gold Medal win at the European Championships in 2001 and Dermott Lennon’s Individual World Championship win in 2002 for which Wade was Chef D’Equipe for both.

Speaking on Saturday night, he commented about the European Championship win and what he thought was needed to be a Chef D’Equipe; ‘’You had to know each rider.  Each rider was different.  To give an example, the year we won the European Gold Medal, Dermott Lennon was the last man to go with Liscalgot.  The warm up arena at the Show was about 200 yards away from the jumping arena and you couldn’t see what was going on until you got called up.  I knew if Dermott jumped clear we would win.
‘’I met Dermott as he was walking up to the ring and he asked me how we were going and I told him ‘we’re not going to bad at all, if you go clear we’ll finish third but if the Swedish rider goes clear we’ll be fourth.’  So he went in with no pressure on him and he jumped the best round I have ever seen in my lifetime and he went clear and we won the European Championship.’’

Clever tactics from the man who brought so much success to Ireland but when speaking about his riding days, Wade spoke with more modesty than could be evident in a man with so many big results; ‘’Well the opposition probably weren’t so good at the time.’’

However, Wade had an incomparable partner with the great Dundrum.  A little bigger than a Connemara pony, Dundrum recorded so many of Wade’s biggest wins and he spoke very fondly of him; ‘’I wouldn’t have any fear of any of the horses competing at the moment if I had Dundrum now.  He was just a little bigger than a pony, only 15.1 and a half exactly but he was like a little thoroughbred, he was all muscle.  He was a lovely horse to ride, strong and powerful.’’

Very few, if any, will be able to say that Tommy Wade does not deserve to be in the Hall of Fame and the rousing reception he received on Saturday night when his name was announced says it all.

Earlier in the evening some of the National prize winners were rewarded for their efforts starting out with the Groom of the Year which went to Oisin Finn who plays an integral part of the staff at Linda Courtney’s Belfast yard.

Over the August Bank holiday weekend, two riders shone at the National Amateur Championships with Anita Algierowicz claiming the National Amateur Champions title while Seamus Og Campbell took the Amateur Speed Championship.

One of the highlights from this past year for so many Showjumping fans will no doubt be the success of Bertram Allen.  His was a phenomenal year by any accounts.  He won Grand Prix, made his Nations Cup debut, won another European medal and a remarkable win at the World Breeders Championships.  Allen was awarded the Young Rider of the Year prize and the Rookie of the Year prize, a perfectly just award for an amazing talent coming through the ranks.

The SJI Show of the Year, which was voted for by almost 2,000 people and there was a resounding winner in The Irish Breeders Classic.  Ronan Rothwell, Maurice Cousins and the team at Barnadown have set the bar very high with this Show and it is sure to improve even more as the years go by.  

On the national front, Daniel Coyle and Vickie Anderson received awards for winning the HSI/Blue Grass Spring Tour and the Wexford Insurance 1.20m League.

In his address to the audience, Showjumpers Club Chairman James Kernan announced that Connolly’s RED MILLS have come on board along with Horse Sport Ireland as the sponsors of the 2014 Spring Tour.  While Connolly’s RED MILLS are also the main Sponsor for the Showjumpers Club ‘Equine Hedge School’ Seminar taking place in Killashee on January 7th.

The TRM/Horseware National Grand Prix Awards went to familiar faces with Greg Broderick taking the title for a second year in a row while Tholm Keane received the award for the Leading Horse on behalf of Ronan Tynan, the owner of Warrenstown You 2.  Broderick also received a Special Achievement Award for his exploits with Arraghbeg Clover who won the Irish Breeders Classic and the World Breeders Championship for 5 Year Olds.

Another Special Achievement Award went to the European Pony Team that claimed a Bronze Medal in Arezzo in July while Susan Fitzpatrick was also presented with an award for winning Individual European Gold with Rock Dee Jay.

This year we also saw a new National Champion being crowned through the TRM/Horseware Premier Series in Paddy O’Donnell while his main mount, Harristown Princess claimed the Leading horse in the Series.  For that, Harristown Princess’s owner, Thomas Power brought home a beautiful charcoal portrait of the Clover Flush mare by renowned equine artist Paddy Lennon.

The Team of the Year came from the FEI Furisyya Nations Cup Final in Barcelona where Shane Breen, Bertram Allen, Cameron Hanley, Denis Lynch and Billy Twomey.  Chef D’Equipe Robert Splaine was on hand to receive the award while Cameron Hanley left a message saying; ‘’This is not only for the five riders in Barcelona, it’s for all the team throughout the year who got us to the Final in the first place.  As well as that, this is a good opportunity to say thank you to the team behind the team.  The Owners, the Grooms, Robert Splaine our Chef D’Equipe and Marcus Swail our Vet, without these, it would not have been possible and hopefully next year someone will be getting this award for a Gold Medal not a Bronze.’’

The final award before the Hall of Fame went to a combination who rose hugely throughout the year.  Conor Swail was named as the International Rider of the Year as he is now the highest placed Irish rider in the World rankings at number 27.  His main mount, Lansdowne provided him with several high profile wins, most notably in the Pan American Cup where he won €130,000.

Yet again, the Showjumpers Club did a fantastic job in organising the Awards Ball with the proceeds going towards the Spring Tour.  Maureen Bagnall, Ronan Corrigan and all the Committee deserve a lot of praise for another great night.

All photos are courtesy of Laurence Dunne/Jumpinaction.net