Young pony riders keeping age-old island tradition alive

When the tide goes out at Omey it reveals a mile-long swathe of beach linking the island to the mainland.

When funerals go to Omey cemetery, the Mass time on the mainland is dictated by the ebb and flow of the sea. At ebb tide, it's time for the final journey.

But ebb tide brings a frenzy of life to Omey strand once a year, too - the pony races there go back as far as anybody can remember. The latest annual battle between pony and pony, and man and bookie, was fought out in Connemara's racing outpost on Saturday.

The "racecourse" was set up after midday when the tide ebbed west. Depending on tidal conditions, the amount of time for racing can be as short as three hours; on Saturday there was anything up to five hours.

Over 60 ponies came from all over Ireland to compete in eight races at Omey, 80km (50 miles)west of Galway. Maybe they would not stay the course with their big-time cousins at Ballybrit, but these ponies sure could shift sand as they raced along the beach.

The first race produced a Kerry winner. Emma Jones (14) from Tarbert rode home her own pony, Grey Dancer, to victory. This is her seventh straight win in this year's nationwide pony racing calendar.

Emma, a pupil at the Tarbert Community School, says she wants to go on to be a jockey in the big league.

That's the target too for 13-year-old Keith O'Donoghue from Dunshaughlin who teamed up with owner Adrian Browne from Letterkenny to take the main event of the day, the open two-mile race, on Miss Hennahgui. This is Keith's 23rd win this year. The prize money for the main event was €2,000.

Organisers Malachy King and Feichín Mulkerrins revived the Omey races five years ago. They had ceased in 1962. "It was hard to get money or to organise much in this part of the world in these years," says Mulkerrins.

Nowadays anything up to €20,000 might be needed to run the event in the small Claddaghduff community, 11km north of Clifden.

These pony racing events are not recognised by the Turf Club - the body that regulates horse racing in Ireland - and this is a bone of contention. There is a lengthy roll call of jockeys who have come from pony racing - one race in Galway last week had eight jockeys who starred in the pony circuit.

In the future, Keith O' Donoghue and Emma Jones may join that elite group. They follow their dream to Dingle pony races next weekend.

But at Omey, the tide has flowed again and the last hoof-marks have disappeared into the ocean. The time-honoured races have plucked another moment from the tide.