PUNCHESTOWN 2012 – ‘What a Wonderful Day’

What a difference a day makes, when we see the weather that has transpired at Punchestown in the following days.  Tuesday, 24th April 2012, saw the Kilmacud Crokes Hurling community travel the familiar road to Punchestown for the 9th annual Kilmacud Crokes Hurling Corporate Race Day at the Punchestown National Hunt Festival.

What fabulous weather we had, the scene was set, the rain clouds had blown away and we were met by glorious fresh sunshine.  It was great to see so many people out on the lawns having a chat and a drink before sitting down for lunch.  It was a great omen for the wonderful day that followed.

The Kilmacud Crokes Hurling Punchestown Pavilion adjoining the final fence was filled by nearly 600 race goers and Kilmacud Crokes Hurling Supporters.

Our new Master of Ceremonies for 2012 was Lorna Fowler.  Lorna is a very established racing presenter, working with Racing UK and doing master of ceremony and interviewing roles on many tracks around the world.   Lorna welcomed the guests and I think it is fair to say people were enthralled by Lorna’s superb commentary throughout the day.  Her sense of flair really did capture the moment we were delighted to have Lorna with us for the day.  Indeed, Lorna is due her first arrival in five weeks time and we wish here the very best in that regard.

We welcomed our special guest of honour 1992 Olympic Gold Medal Champion Michael Carruth and his wife Paula.  Michael is now working with Chris Thompson in the backroom team with the Dublin Hurlers and we were delighted, in the year that was in it, that Michael found time to attend as the guest of honour.  Guests and Stars from across the sporting spectrum were present including Bernard Jackman, Eddie O’Sullivan, Brent Pope and Cyril Farrell together with well known Kilmacud Crokes and Dublin Hurlers Niall Corcoran and Ryan O’Dwyer.  We were also honoured to have Dublin football legends Jimmy Keaveney and Ciaran Whelan in our presence. We were also delighted to welcome Martin Skelly, Chairman of the GAA Leinster Council.

Lorna firstly went through the card with Greg Walker from Betdaq who gave some very good insight on which horses the money was going on during the morning.

Lorna then welcomed and interviewed a number of trainers including top UK trainer Phillip Hobbs, hope some of you picked up on his thoughts on his horse ‘Snap Tie’ who brilliantly won the third race.  Lorna also interviewed Conor O’Dwyer, Colm Murphy who was preparing Big Zeb for the Boylesports Champion Chase and also Tom Mullins who went on to have two winners Alderwood and Some Article that afternoon, “hope you were listening”.

At different stages later in the afternoon we enjoyed the legendary Michael Lyster interviews for their wit and entertainment.  Michael interviewed some of our guests present including Eddie O’Sullivan, Brent Pope (when he was free from all the photographs with the ladies) and Bernard Jackman.  We wish Bernard well on his new coaching venture with Grenoble in France this coming June. 

For the many ladies on show, model Pippa O’Connor judged the best dressed lady competition in our Kilmacud Crokes pavilion and the winner came fom Chris Thompsons’s table, Clare McHenry who won first prize free hairdressing for a year courtesy of Reds Salon, Dawson Street. Well done to Clare who looked stunning on the day. Clare was certainly not alone with the style on show.

The racing was superb, the spirit, craic and enjoyment was shared by all.

One of the high points was the auction run by Michael Regan, Galway based Auctioneer.  The top auction item was the Punchestown Race Sponsorship Package which went under the hammer for €3,000.   Items also auctioned included a trip for two to the Euro 2012 Ireland v Spain match, trip for two to the Heineken Cup Final, tickets with an overnight stay at the Sandymount Hotel to see Madonna this July in the Aviva and many more.

We were delighted to auction two items the proceeds of which are going directly to the “Julie Wren Fund” in Our Ladys Childrens Hospital in Crumlin.  The first, a Kilkenny Hurling that was signed in Crumlin hospital the day after the 2011 All Ireland Final by all the players and selectors and second a Leinster Rugby jersey signed by the team.  The proceeds of these two items raised €1,100. We extend a big thank you to the successful bidders on these items.  Even for those not bidding it was an entertaining side to the day’s racing. Many thanks to all who got involved in the auction.

Kilmacud Crokes Hurling also used the opportunity to announce two exciting developments.  The first was the provision of a third level bursary to one of our young hurlers.  We have decided to provide a €1,000 bursary to be drawn by lottery from all Kilmacud Crokes Hurlers applying for third level education for the first time in 2012.  This €1,000 bursary has been funded by funds ring-fenced from the proceeds of the Punchestown events. We were also delighted to announce that through the generous support of Padraic Dempsey of United Drug we were able to put a second bursary of €1000 in place. For more on this new initiative click HERE.

The other introduction and announcement that we were delighted to make was the fact that One Direct Insurance have come on board as the sponsors of the All Ireland Hurling 7’s and the 2012 Hurling 7’s will be the ‘One Direct Kilmacud Crokes All Ireland Hurling 7’s’.  We were delighted to welcome One Direct Managing Director and Club Member David Egan and his team to Punchestown and we look forward to a long relationship with One Direct and thank them very much for their support.

Full details of these two announcements are available here on our website;  www.kilmacudcrokes.com/hurling.

After racing, people enjoyed some music in the Pavilion for an hour or so before travelling back home.  A large group travelled back to Glenalbyn House where, as tradition has developed, the day’s festivities continued with Michael Regan performing a fantastic rendition of music and song long into the night. 

For Kilmacud Crokes Hurling the entire event was a wonderful success.  We are extremely grateful and appreciative of the support and contributions of those who took tables or seats or supported the race day in any manner.  The proceeds are vital towards the continued development of hurling within the Club and the area and in particular will allow us to expand and enhance our hurling coaching and development program.

Special thanks must go to Brendan Sweeney and the Punchestown Workgroup team, Sean Allen, Peter Corish, Tim Dolphin, Denis Egan, Brian Geraghty, Ed Gibbons, David Moran, Chris Thompson and Peter Walsh for the incredible job they did to organise this event. 

In addition a special mention to Cathal Gormley and Diarmuid Ó Gallchobhair for managing the music and photographic tasks so well.  Please take a look at the photographs of the day on our website.  Thanks also for our own hospitality group who managed the tables so well.

We are also indebted to the staff of Punchestown, Dick O’Sullivan, General Manager and Liam Holton for the brilliant welcome they gave us on the day and all their support in preparing for the day.  Also to Mike O’Donovan and his Dobbins Team, I think you will all agree their food and service was of the highest quality.

The Kilmacud Crokes Hurling Corporate Race Day gets better and better every year, we hope that all who attended enjoyed themselves and we look forward to our trip to Punchestown in 2013 which will mark a landmark 10th year of the event.

 

You can get a flavour of the atmosphere by clicking HERE or on the photo below!