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Pony Races 9 -10 September 2006 Our students Ciara and Ronan from second year and Brendan from third year give their account of a great weekend!!! Photos courtesy Tony Keane. Ciara's story: My name is Ciara Fahey. This year Monasterevin pony racing was on and I had one winner in the 14.2 on my own pony called The Muppet. The money raised was to go to the school. 7500 was raised. It was a very good two day event.
Ronan's story: My name is Ronan Whelan and I was riding in the Monasterevin Horse and Pony Races which was in aid of my school St. Paul's Secondary. On the first day of the races I had two winners, one on Molly Moon, I had been riding her for a while and we were always getting placed so it was very nice to finally get the win on her and to make it better it was in front of my home crowd. The best part of the meeting or even the year was winning the big race the two mile derby on my family's horse Gateway. I also had a third, two fourths and a fifth that day, also that day my friend Ciara Fahey won the 14.2 on her own pony The Muppet so it turned out a great day for the locals. The second day was good but not as good as the first. I started off the day with a second in the 13 hands. In my next race I came fourth. After that I had Molly Moon the horse I won on the day before in the mile and a quarter we were in a driving finish and just as we were coming back at Apples and Gary Carroll the finish line came and we were beaten by a neck. I had two other rides and came fourth and nowhere, also that day Brendan Fahey won the local race and he also rode Gateway, the horse I won the derby on and came in a very good fourth. Over the weekend I was leading jockey but only on placings. The racing was fun, enjoyable, exciting and a huge success for everybody.
Brendan's story: DAY 1: Ciara Fahey kicked off the day in winning style for the local in the 14.2 on her own pony called The Muppet. Then another win for the locals was Ronan Whelen on GAteway and had a quick double on Molly Moon, then Chris Harrison rode Bob's Baby in the mad hatters. DAY 2: Ciara Fahey's pony The Muppet felt the pinch from day one and finished down the field. Brendan Fahey brough the locals back to the winner's enclosure in style in the local race on his own pony Guess Who, and raised 250 euro for his school, and altogether there was 7,500 euro raised, and there was not much success for the locals after that.
Pictured: Willie Crabbe, secretary and Darren Harrison, treasurer of the Monasterevin Horse and Pony Club, Ciara and Brendan and Mr Henry and Mr. Bergin from St. Paul's as well as teacher Ms. Doyle, who was the link between the school and the races, at the presentation.
Press realease 13/09/2006: Monasterevin Horse and Pony Clubgenerously donated over 7,500 euro to St. Paul's Secondary School following their recent very successful two day festival of Horse and Pony Racing in Hybla. The school wishes to acknowledge the dedication, hard work and enthusiasm of the organising committee who left no stone unturned organising a great day's sport. The lands which the McCormack family generously provided allowed the huge crowd a great vantage of the races. They were particularly pleased to cheer on the local riders who have been winning consistently throughout the season from Dingle to Bangor. The pony racing season runs from April to September, in venues all over Ireland and in 2005, pony racing was reintroduced to Monasterevin, and following this, a very successful racing weekend was organised for 2006. Over 7,500 euro was raised, with proceeds going to the local secondary school, St. Paul's. There is a strong racing tradition at the school, with several students and their families involved in pony racing, national hunt training and thoroughbred breeding.
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