Nine-time champion jockey Charlie Swan and his team took top honours at the Horse Racing Ireland Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic. The team competition, to showcase the very best of Ireland's retrained racehorses, was the highlight of the Treo Eile Christmas show at Emerald Equestrian Centre, last Thursday December 14.
10 teams, all captained by jockeys, took part in the two-round team competition over an 80 cm course. However, the ultra-competitive Charlie Swan and his team, sponsored by Camas Park and Summerhill Studs, which included his daughter Olivia, Dublin Horse Show’s puissance winner, Commandant Geoff Curran, and his daughter Kiki Curran, were the only team to post a clean sheet in the first round. That penalty free round proved a key advantage, as they jumped another clear round in the fastest time in the finale, to win the HRI perpetual cup.
Three former racehorses, Oscar Encore (Charlie Swan), Briar Hill (Commandant Geoff Curran) and Clonakilty Bay (Olivia Swan) were pivotal in securing the win for the Tipperary jockey and his team-mates.
Each team, captained by a professional jockey, were joined by two show jumping or eventing competitors and a pony rider who each rode a variety of former racehorses over a course of jumps followed by a jump off to decide the winners of the coveted Horse Racing Ireland Perpetual Cup.
John Osborne, HRI’s Equine Welfare & Bloodstock Director, said: “Congratulations to all the human and equine stars who participated in the Treo Eilie Christmas Show. It was a brilliant evening and platform to showcase the versatility of retrained racehorses. Over 50 ex-racehorses competed at the show, demonstrating how adaptable racehorses are across an array of disciplines.”
HRI Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic teams:
Rachael Blackmore, County Tipperary - team captain
Mia De Bromhead, County Waterford
Sarah Curry, County Wicklow
Lucca Stubington, County Antrim
Gary Carroll, County Kildare - team captain
Timmy Considine, County Meath
Jo Andrews, County Meath
Emma Sweeney, County Meath
Rory Cleary, County Kildare - team captain
Orla Cleary, County Kildare
Felicity Ward, County Cork
Sarah Gayer, County Cork
Jack Kennedy, County Kerry – team captain
Paddy Finnegan, County Meath
Seanin Mahon, County Meath
Amy Parsons, County Meath
Patrick Mullins, County Carlow - team captain
Ronan Duffy, County Kildare
Louise Duffy, County Meath
Stephanie McGlynn, County Kildare
Robbie Power, County Meath - team captain
Lucy Kent, County Waterford
Jamie Buckley, County Meath
Elizabeth 'Esib' Power, County Meath
Davy Russell, County Cork - team captain
Lily Russell, County Cork
Joseph Murphy, County Down
Rachael O'Callaghan, County Westmeath
Charlie Swan, County Tipperary - team captain
Kiki Curran, County Meath
Geoff Curran, County Meath
Olivia Swan, County Tipperary
Katie Walsh, County Kildare - team captain
Eliza Wardell, County Wicklow
Sarah Wardell, County Wicklow
Amy Walsh, County Cork
Norman Williamson, County Meath - team captain
Kian 'Tubs' McNally, County Armagh
Carla Williamson, County Meath
Emma Newsam, County Down
