Geraldine Kane charity show raises £3,000

Appropriately, the show took place at Portmore where Geraldine worked in the kitchen since the Centre opened in 2002. Sadly, she lost her battle with cancer at the end of last year. The family chose two charities, which were very important in Geraldine’s care as the beneficiaries of the charity event. These are Marie Curie and the Southern Area Hospice.

The organisers worked very hard to gain superb prizes for all classes as well as excellent ballot items and some auction items.

The pony classes at the show got underway at 9.30am with cross poles and it was lovely to see the young riders, their lovely ponies and, indeed, their runners doing so well over the course built by Ray Buchanan.

Eileen Carlin of EC Rugs provided beautiful saddlecloths for three of the classes, which were very well received.

Applemount Sport horses sponsored the Princess of the arena, which saw plenty of excitement amongst the competitors. Gillian Grogan was crowned by Luke Campbell after her exhilarating round on her amazing little pony, Heaven Sent.

The horse classes started at 2pm and there were great entries across the board.

Joanne Wilkinson proved her worth in the 70cms class with the only double clear on Casper.

The 80cms class was fast and furious but Beth Guiney came up trumps with a blistering round on the aptly named, Mo Farah to get top prize presented by Gary Close.

There was certainly plenty of excitement during the Accumulator competition as rider after rider tried the Joker fence, mostly with penalties attached. However, that was not the case with Roberta Hampton on JD Buzz, a combination not known for hanging round. She was the fastest of the four combinations that finished on maximum points and received a beautiful embroidered rug from Belshaw’s Saddlery. Nikki Cullen and Tango Lad received four poles from Rea Sawmills and William Greene picked up two poles with Drew Murdock’s horse, Phoenix.

The 1m Table C competition which was sponsored by Equinutrive saw a great entry and plenty of riders being rewarded for their speed.

John McKinney saw off all competition and took top prize with a well executed round on his mother’s Anjo Fizzy Pop, hotly pursued by Nikki Cullen on Danske Coevers Lass and Tango Lad who slotted into third place.

The Kane family had chosen to sponsor the King and Queen of the Arena and they selected two beautiful watches for the winners.

Matthew Sturrock entered with a definite look of determination on his face, which paid off, and no other contender was able to catch his very fast time.

Meantime, Charlotte Eakin riding her fairly recent acquisition, Vigo G, gave a foot perfect performance, hugging the wings at every opportunity and was duly crowned Queen with a two second margin over her closest rival, Lorraine Leavesley. It was lovely to see Geraldine’s mother making the presentations to both the King and Queen.

The Organising Committee would like to extend a huge thank you to Rafael & Chantal Suarez for the free use of Portmore and also to all the many sponsors of classes and those who provided a huge array of amazing ballot items.

Thanks also to all the competitors who supported the Geraldine Kane Memorial Show, which, hopefully, will become an annual event.

At the time of going to print, a total in excess of £3000 has been raised.

A formal presentation will take place to both charities very shortly.

Photographs on the day were taken by Tori O’Connor and these can be viewed on her website www.toriocphotography.co.uk

The ‘best turn out’ prize went to Cheryl Stevenson riding Desi Graham’s very striking gelding, Murphy.

Results

Ponies – Crosspoles – Sponsored by Dora Beacom: 1= Ella Hogan, Patches & Chloe Tate, Anklesocks

Ponies – 50cms – Sponsored by T & K Consultancy: 1= Sophie Watt, Prancing Queen & Vivienne Andrews, Pebbles; 3. Chloe Tate, Ankle Socks

Ponies – 60cms – Sponsored by Noel Kane Spray Painters: 1= Charlie Black, Oscar Rua, Maeve Carlin, Cinders, Rachel Hughes, Roxy; 4. Vivienne Andrews, Patches

Ponies – 70cms – Sponsored by EC Rugs: 1= Charlie Black, Oscar Rua (drew saddlecloth), Maeve Carlin, Cinders, Rachel Hughes, Roxy

Ponies – 85cms – Sponsored by Electraction NI Ltd: Katie Good, Lily

Gillian Grogan, Heaven Sent

Ponies – 90cms Prince & Princess of the Arena – Sponsored by Applemount Sport Horses

Princess: Gillian Grogan, Heaven Sent; Ella Heron, Prancing Queen; Lauren Wilson, Hill Top Boy; Katie Good, Lily

Ponies – 1m: 1, Lauren Wilson, Hill Top Boy; 2. Gillian Grogan, Heaven Sent

Horses – 70cms- Sponsored by Craig Contracts: Joanne Wilkinson, Casper: Dawn Bond, Ben; Emma Myles, Miss Derryola; Alisha McNamara, Scobby

Horses – 80cms – Sponsored by GUS Transport: Beth Guiney, Mo Farrah; Emma Myles, Freya; Joanne Wilkinson, Casper; Lorraine Leavesley, Ruby; Dawn Bond, Ben; Eileen Carlin, Harry

Horses- 90cms Accumulator – Sponsored by Belshaws Saddlery & Rea Sawmills: Roberta Hampton, JD Buzz; Nikki Cullen, Tango Lad; William Greene, Phoenix; Jessica Knipe, Shanaghagans Timothy; John McKinney, Anjo Fizzy Pop; Megan Kane, Maverick

1m – Table C Speed- Sponsored by Equinutrive: John McKinney, anjo Fizzy Pop; Nikki Cullen, Danske Coevers Lass; Nikki Cullen, Tango Lad; Katie Good, Penny; Elaine Trimble, Gem; Roberta Hampton, JD Buzz

Horse – 1.10m King & Queen of the Arena – Sponsored by The Kane Family

King: Matthew Sturrock, Cavaliers Classic Clover; John McKinney, Anjo Diamond Raver; Thomas Compton, Bertie; William Greene, Junior

Queen: Charlotte Eakin, Vigo G; Lorraine Leavesley, Jack; Melanie Moorhead, Irish Twang; Nikki Cullen, Danske Coevers Lass; Ciara Dawson, Ruby; Brogan McCrum, Tailormade for Me.