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Moloney is crowned national showjumping champion
EDDIE Moloney from Warrington, Kilkenny, was this week crowned the ShowjumpingIreland national champion with his own Slieveanorra.
The concluding Grand Prix in the annual National Grand Prix Championship was a tough affair that yielded just two clears from the 33 that started.
Ten then went forward to the second round as per the conditions of the class with Eddie Moloney and Nicola FitzGibbon being the only two clears from the first round.
At the start of the class, Alexander Butler was in pole position with John Higgins's Keeford Topcat. However, they faulted twice to knock them out of contention.
Clears in the second round then came from Greg Broderick and Mrs Quinn which was closely followed by Dermott Lennon and Vampire. However, it was little too late as the final combinations entered the arena.
Main contenders
Edward Little appeared set to be one of the main contenders for the crown when recording a clear round and ensured him of at least 164.5 points to leave him in the top spot and added the pressure to the final combinations.
Of those Joan Greene added to the clears and put her into third place with a time of 52.47.
It all then came down to the final combinations Nicola FitzGibbon and Eddie Moloney. Although the National Championship Crown was out of sight for FitzGibbon, the €20,000 on offer for the Grand Prix was still up for grabs.
The outgoing national champions did not disappoint when producing another fine double clear to put them into the lead.
All was then brought onto Moloney's shoulders with his own horse, Slieveanorra. Their clear round gave them the points needed to put them into the top position and crowned them National Champions for 2010 despite finishing second in the Grand Prix. Moloney collected €5,000 for the National Championship title.
Following the class, Kilkenny based Moloney said with great joy: ''The horse was fantastic. He just keeps answering every question. One like him makes my job so much easier. It is a pleasure to have the chance to ride one like him.''
He said he was thrilled to be National Champion.
''This means eveything to me. Slieveanorra is only eight so it probably didn't look likely at the start of the week, but I am absolutely delighted.''
The Grand Prix concluded this year's running of the ShowjumpingIreland National Championships at Coilog Equestrian Centre.
Best achievement
Earlier in the day Ger O'Neill declared his win in the National Speed Championships as his best achievement to date when taking an extremely fast class with Vincent Digby's I Caeser.
A multiple winner on the National and Regional Grand Prix circuits, O'Neill currently leads the Munster Grand Prix League, and won the prestigious final breaking the beam in a time of 60.27.
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Weather for Kilkenny
Tuesday 22 May 2012
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