17 November 2022 - Flipbook - Page 77
HORSEWEEK
FARMWEEK
OCTOBER 06 2022
77
Killultagh Hunt announces closure
I
T is with much
regret that
Chairman Philip
Swann has had
to announce
the closure of the
Killultagh, Old Rock
and Chichester
Hunt. The oldest
registered hunt in
Ireland could date
its beginning around
1620. In 1831, the Old
Rock and Chichester
packs joined and, in
1834, the Killultagh
pack amalgamated
with the two packs
and they became
known as the
Killultagh, Old Rock
and Chichester Hunt.
Their livery was
scarlet coat, old gold
collar and green
lapels. They moved
to Dundrod and set
PARADING HOUNDS: Killultagh Huntsman Patrick Headdon, whipper-in
Katie Headdon, Chairman Philip Swann and youngest member Flora
Clark parading hounds at the Game Fair in Shane’s Castle.
(FW40-515NN)
up their kennels in
1960, where they
provided a muchneeded service
to the farmers by
disposing of fallen
stock and controlling
vermin. The annual
point to point race
meeting was always
a big day for the
hunt and enjoyed
Autumn point to point season
gets underway at Toome
By Shaun O’Dea
T
HE Northern Region of the Autumn
sector of the point to point season got
underway with the Mid Antrim meeting
at Higgins Estate, Moneyglass, Toome last
Saturday and multiple champion points
trainer, Colin Bowe struck in the opening
contest with ‘Sheeka Supreme’ and All-Ireland
champion rider Barry O’Neill in the saddle.
The winner led before the last to score easily
and is now destined for the bloodstock sales.
The first race of the new season was run
in memory of Marshall Fleming, a long-time
supporter of the hunt, while always making
himself available to assist at point to points
and acted as starter at the Killultagh fixture.
The champion rider quickly doubled up on
the day, when seen to excellent advantage in
the second race on ‘Waspy’, prevailing by a
head from ‘Kap Chidley’ in the young geldings
maiden, having made most of the running and
holding the late thrust of the runner up.
The Mary Doyle trained ‘Haddock De
Grissay’ scored in the five-year-old geldings
maiden, making rapid progress from the
penultimate fence and showing the benefit of
track experience and quickly overhauling the
leader ‘Ballygeary’.
Doyle completed a double with ‘Master
Splinter’ in the winners’ contest, with rider
Brian Dunleavy hitting the front three
from home and keeping on gamely, while
‘Ballyrashane’ filled second, giving leading
Templepatrick owner Wilson Dennison his
third runner up placing at the fixture.
The Sam Curling trained ‘Kalnoo’, having
made all, duly passed the post first in the
older mares maiden but, having gone the
wrong side of a red flag thus taking the wrong
course, was disqualified and the race awarded
to runner up ‘Frankly Fine’, trained by Sean
Doyle with William Hendrick aboard in the
four-runner event.
While her father Wilson Dennison had
to settle for multiple seconds on the day,
daughter Caroline McCaldin got on the
scoreboard when ‘Ballymagee’, another
boasting course form, proved the very easy
winner of the finale under Brian Dunleavy another recording a double at the opening
meeting.
The Mid Antrim organisation got fulsome
praise from the Turf Club representatives
for the manner the meeting was run and the
condition of the course, in contrast to criticism
last season of the Turf Club for failing tracks,
when following inspections they were found
to be unfit for racing.
GREAT START: Multiple All-Ireland champion
rider Barry O’Neill got his season off to a
great start partnering a double in the first two
contests of the new season. (FW40-565NN)
RESULTS
Saturday, October 1
Toome point to point
First Race:
1) Sheeka Supreme (Barry O’Neill) 6/4fav;
2) Brendas Asking; 3) Nicholas Fortune. 6-11.
7 ran.
Second Race:
1) Waspy (Barry O’Neill) 1/1fav; 2) Kap
Chidley; 3) Soldier Dan. Head-17. 6 ran.
Third Race:
1) Haddock De Grissay (Darragh Higgins)
5/1; 2) Ballygeary; 3) Forcing Bull. 5-11. 8 ran.
Fourth Race:
1) Master Splinter (Brian Dunleavy) 4/5fav;
2) Ballyrashane; 3) Old Style Humour. 3-1. 5
ran.
Fifth Race:
1) Frankly Fine (William Hendrick) 5/2; 2)
Maska Du Morvan; 3) Intersky Sunset. 4 1/2-1.
4 ran.
# Amendment result: Kalnoo was first past
the post, but had taken the wrong course and
was disqualified.
Sixth Race:
1) Ballymagee (Brian Dunleavy) 7/2; 2)
Gouazec; 3) Valley Breeze. 5-3. 5 ran.
by locals and the
farming community.
Racing took place
pre-war at the Bog
Meadows, which
was near the Lidl
store in Antrim,
then Pidgeontown,
Ballyarnott,
Lennymore, Moira
and, for the past
number of years at
the Randox Complex,
Laurel Bank in
Crumlin.
Chairman Philip
Swann thanked
huntsman Patrick
Headdon for all
his hard work and
sport days on the
hunting field over
the seven seasons
he had been with
the Killultagh hunt
and wished Patrick,
his wife Sharron and
LAST TIME: Killultagh huntsman Patrick Headdon blowing the long
horn for the last time after hound cubbing in Stoneyford on Saturday
morning. (FW40-516NN)
daughter Katie, who
rode whipper-in, all
the best in the next
step of his career,
whatever path he
decides to take.
Philip would like to
thank the members,
supporters and
the farmers and
land owners for
permitting the hunt
to cross their lands
during their day’s
sport.
Maintaining equestrianism’s social
licence: lessons from other industries
THREATS to equestrian sport’s social
licence to operate (SLO), and what could be
done to protect it, have been reviewed in a
recently published paper.
This is important because loss of SLO can
lead directly to regulation or banning of
an activity and equestrian sport’s SLO is
already being questioned in some quarters.
For example, the decision to remove
equestrianism from the modern pentathlon
after the next Olympics came about directly
due to public reaction to the show jumping
phase of the sport at the Tokyo Olympics.
The authors describe SLO as ‘social
acceptability’: an intangible, implicit
agreement between the public and those
who pursue an activity. Originally used to
describe the degree to which the public
accepts mining operations, the term ‘SLO’
has since been applied to a wide range of
activities - and equestrianism has recently
come under its spotlight.
The peer-reviewed scientific paper,
published in the latest issue of the journal
Animals and written by authors from
World Horse Welfare and the University of
Nottingham, details why the equestrian
world must take heed of the public’s views.
It goes on to suggest actions, based on
information from other industries, that
those across the equine sector should take
to protect its SLO.
Roly Owers, one of the paper’s authors
and Chief Executive of World Horse
Welfare, said: “Public support should never
be assumed and can swing against any
activity, potentially leading to the loss of
that activity’s social licence. In relation to
equestrianism, there are a growing number
of examples of just this, including the demise
of jump racing in most Australian states
and the loss of equestrianism in Modern
Pentathlon. And with increasing regularity,
we are seeing other equestrian sports being
questioned.
“The
recent
YouGov
survey
we
commissioned, which we recognise was
just one snapshot, indicated that 60% of
the wider UK population - people who have
little or no connection with horses - do not
support the use of horses in sport or will
only continue to support it if equine welfare
is improved. The equestrian world cannot
simply ignore this opinion because it is, like
it or not, highly relevant to the future of our
sport.”
Other industries have demonstrated
that you can maintain SLO by building
confidence and trust through transparency,
demonstrating
competence
and
communicating shared values.
According to the paper’s authors, the key
to maintaining equestrianism’s SLO is to
ACCEPTABLE: Social licence to operate
is described as ‘social acceptability’ - an
intangible, implicit agreement between the
public and those who pursue an activity.
(FW40-512NN)
establish public trust by making positive
change and reporting this.
Earning and maintaining that trust will
require substantial effort and funding, and
this should be regarded as an investment
in the future of the sport. They caution that
experience from other industries shows that
denial of the problem is a key contributor to
an industry’s demise.
The paper identifies that loss of SLO in
the equestrian world is largely based on
public perceptions about the safeguarding
of animal welfare.
In
addition,
when
considering
equestrianism’s SLO, it is not sufficient to
simply consider the branches of the equine
sector that are currently being challenged.
The experience of other industries shows
that suboptimal practice in one branch of
an industry can impact upon others, and
this means that, although public attention
is currently focused on certain aspects of
horse sport, the wider equestrian sector
needs to take notice of that public opinion,
in the knowledge that the focus can shift at
any time.
An easy-to-read summary of the paper has
been published on World Horse Welfare’s
website: www.worldhorsewelfare.org and
the full paper (Douglas, J.; Owers, R.; &
Campbell, M.L.H. Social Licence to Operate:
What Can Equestrian Sports Learn from
Other Industries? Animals 2022, 12, 1987)
is available at https://www.mdpi.com/ 20762615/ 12/15/1987
