Mid Antrim Hunt Qualify for Dublin Horse Show
Mid Antrim Inter Hunt Chase Team at Loughanmore
The Mid Antrim Hunt are delighted to confirm that their team has gained a place to compete at the Dublin Horse Show Inter Hunt Chase competition this year. This is no mean achievement as there are very few places available and it is many years since the Mid Antrims or indeed any Northern teams have been represented there.
The Mid Antrim team has clocked up a huge number of miles and spent a fortune on diesel, travelling all over Ireland even as far as Wexford (twice) and Laois to compete in the Dublin Qualifying league, as there are so very few Inter Hunt Chase Dublin Qualifier competitions in the North. In spite of the sterling efforts of course builder and Inter Hunt Chase enthusiast, Noel Fitzpatrick, there were only two of these events in the North this year, at Balmoral Show and a Mid Antrim Hunt event run at Loughanmore by kind permission of Wilson Dennison. Both these events were sponsored and supported by Wilsons Auctions. This has meant that the Mid Antrim team has had to go South almost every weekend to stand a chance of qualifying against the Southern teams who are extremely professional and keep strings of horses for the sole purpose of Inter Hunt Chasing.
Fiona Magill
The team came 6th in the league which qualified them for the ballot and they should be congratulated on winning the most consistently Best Turned Out team award. Fiona Magill also won a crystal rose bowl awarded to the most entertaining rider. The top 3 teams in the league, The Kildares, Killinicks and Westmeaths automatically gained a place in the final and the next 4 places were balloted for, with one place kept for a visiting team from G.B. The Meaths, the Scar and the Wexford Hunts’ names came out of the ballot and when the popular Mid Antrim team’s name was also announced it raised a huge cheer from the other teams who are aware of the great efforts the Northern team has made to get to Dublin. The team are very grateful for the kindness and hospitality shown by their hosts and the league organiser John Rowley on their Southern visits.
Orla McLaughlin on Flynn
In addition to the experience gained at the competitions the Mid Antrim team has also been constantly practising at Andy Hamilton’s farm, in particular trying to polish up their handovers of the hunting crop which has to be done at a flat out gallop full tilt, head on at each other, in order to stand any chance of competing with the brilliant Southern teams. Andy Hamilton and David McLaughlin have given up a great deal of their time coaching, encouraging and generally providing the impetus to the team and must be delighted that all their work has helped the team to gain a place in Dublin.
Jamie Sloan
The team includes Beverley Caves on Richard Cowan’s lovely big chestnut horse Inspire Me which has been very successfully evented by Beverley and is also a first class hunter. Also in the team is Orla McLaughlin who has a lot of inter-hunt chasing experience under her belt with her great little thoroughbred hunter, Flynn. Fiona Magill on Merrin has been going extremely well as has Jamie Sloan on Callie, a very nippy chestnut which looks tailor-made for this game. Andy Hamilton and David McLaughlin have given up a great deal of their time coaching, encouraging and generally providing the impetus to the team and must be absolutely delighted that all their work has helped the team to gain a place in Dublin.
As at Balmoral the Inter Hunt Chase is run as a thrilling finale to the Dublin Horse Show and all best wishes go to the team and congratulations on their efforts in qualifying for a place. The draw has already been done and the Mid Antrims will compete in the first round against the Meath Hunt.
The Mid Antrim Hunt also ran a fun Beach Mounted Relay on Carnlough Beach recently as part of the Dalriada Festival, sponsored by Larne Borough Council. This course was also built by Noel Fitzpatrick and the commentary box provided by Wilsons Auctions but unlike the Inter Hunt Chases which are only open to hunts registered with the Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association and the Irish Masters of Harriers Association, this is an light-hearted event that is open to all, including ponies, and always attracts a large crowd. As far as we know it is the only event of its kind to be held on the beach. This year there were a few spills as usual but much to the disappointment of the crowd, none in the water. The event was covered widely by the media with pictures even in the New York based Huffington Post and the London based Guardian newspaper.
Brigid Delargy on Strawberry
The competition has now been run for three years and is extremely popular with all ages. The “Benny’s Angels” team included Benny O’Kane and three children, Orla O’Kane, Erin Dunseath, and Brigid Delargy who had rushed back from competing and coming a brilliant 5th at the European Under 12 Games, in order to compete at Carnlough. It may be only a “fun” event but it was contested very fiercely by ten teams of all varieties, notably the photogenic Coloured Chase team with their co-ordinating horses to the smart Killultagh team of Guy Brady, Patrick Grinter, Mark Casserley and Sinead Boyd with their red hunting coats which mercifully stayed relatively dry. This team was runner up to the eventual winners, The Dare Devils, consisting of Shane O’Grady, Seamus Dillon, Diane Gibson and Colin Marshall, who all really went for it in the finals and received the big prize.
We wish the Mid Antrim Hunt Team the very best of luck in Dublin on 11th August, when they will be competing at 6pm in the main arena, and hope there will be plenty of Northerners there to support and cheer them on.
Photos of the Dalriada Beach Relay are by Audrey Hunter.
