Knockanard point-to-point will play host to a charity race organized by the Cork and Waterford Injured Jockeys Fund and the Avondhu hunt, with all proceeds raised on the day being donated to the fund to help qualified riders, who regularly ride in the region, in the event of them getting injured.
The Cork and Waterford Injured jockeys fund was established in 1991 after local jockey Mike Condon suffered an injury at Carrigtwohill point-to-point. A group of locals decided to organize a fundraiser in aid of Condon’s recovery, with the fundraiser being a huge success, locals decided they wanted to continue aiding injured jockeys in the region and so emerged the Cork and Waterford injured jockeys fund.
Knockanard point-to-point will take place on February 16th and the charity race, which is a two-mile flat contest that is open to any horse that holds a hunter cert, will be held after racing has finished on the day.
Another condition of the race is that all riders participating must have held an amateur licence at some stage in their lives.
Colman Sweeney, who is best known for guiding Salsify to victory in the Foxhunters at Cheltenham for his father Roger, is one of 19 riders participating in the race.
Other big names taking part in the race include: Noel Fehily, Liam Burke, Tom Lombard, Timothy Townend, Corky Carroll, Ciaran Fennessy and Mick Winters, along with a host of other local ex-riders.
Funds for the event will be raised through each rider, who will have a target to raise of €400 each and the horse used to ride in the race will have an entry fee of €50.
Sweeney, who is treasurer of the charity has been busy with the Avondhu Hunt, Eleanor Broderick, Kaye Moroney and other members of the Cork and Waterford Injured Jockeys fund planning for the upcoming event.
“We recently launched a website for the charity in order for people to be able to donate online. We also sell merchandise, such as jackets and hats on the website and this is another great way for people donate,” explained Sweeney.
“Last year at our AGM we spoke about the possibility of organizing a charity race in order to raise funds for the charity, but it was only this year that we started putting feelers out and asking people if they would be interested in taking part in it and we received a great uptake, so we decided to start putting things into motion then.
“We were conscious of the fact that when we were selecting the riders, that we wanted to target more of the older generation of riders, rather than the more recently retired riders.
“We are looking forward to the day and after the race there will be a couple of spot prizes given out to the participants of the race, such as oldest rider, heaviest weight, first home, last home etc.
“A raffle will also take place on the day and prizes to be won from the raffle include, tickets for race meetings, vouchers for local tack shops and the main prize is four tickets for the York Dante racing festival which includes a stable tour of David O’Meara’s yard that morning.”
All are encouraged to come along and support this worthy cause while also having the opportunity to watch a fantastic line-up of ex-riders taking part, in what us sure to be the feature race of the day.
You can show your support for your favourite rider by donating to the GoFundMe page set up by the Cork and Waterford Injured Jockeys Fund and don’t forget to name the rider you are supporting when making your donation.
If you would like to find out more information about the Cork and Waterford Injured Jockeys Fund or purchase merchandise in support of the charity, full details are available on the website.
Here is a full list of the riders that are set to feature:
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