McEvoy enjoys another weekend to remember

YOU would be forgiven for thinking that Niamh McEvoy is a horse riding veteran, given the results she’s achieved this year.

But the fact is, the 17-year-old only moved from ponies to horses in January and since then she has regularly matched and beaten riders with much more experience.

Several weeks ago she enjoyed a near perfect outing in Cavan when she not only won and finished second in the 1.50m Grand Prix, but also earned podium places in two other events.

The 17-year-old Loreto Grammar School pupil powered to victory in the 5,000 Euros Autumn Grand Prix final at Cavan on Robin Bingham’s Templepatrick Welcome Limerick and was second on her father Richard’s Haifa OL.

She then went on to excel on three of Rio Olympian, Greg Broderick’s horses, finishing second and third in the Cavan Crystal five-year-olds final on Zoey and Digby, and she was third in the 6/7 year olds class on BP St Patrick.

And the even more recently she exceeded those performances with victory on Limerick in the Cavan Winter Horse Festival feature 1.40m class before winning the 1.45m Grand Prix two days later on Haifa OL, on whom she was third on the Friday.

“We had a great weekend,” she beamed. “It was great to get a second double!

“I cannot believe the success we’re having at the minute because just coming out of ponies it can be difficult to get a horse to go into Grand Prix, but I’ve just been so lucky.

“I was delighted after the Friday because they were brilliant in the 1.40m jump-off but I couldn’t believe Sunday at all!”

While chuffed with the performances of both her horses over that weekend, Niamh was particularly pleased by the efforts of Haifa OL.

“She has come on really quickly this year,” she observed. “That was actually her first ever 1.45, so I couldn’t believe it.

“She was brilliant. She’s a very, very good mare, I think she’s going to turn out phenomenal. She’s been brilliant this year and I’m really excited about her.”

Niamh and her horses will wind down their competitive schedule over the winter, with two more Grand Prix this year.

After those they will take a break until 2022 when she hopes to compete in a few Nations Cup events in order to qualify for the Ireland team going to the European Championships.