Racing
There was a lot of success for Waterford on the racing front this year, there was a lot to celebrate and a lot to be excited about.
While the worst hurt imaginable descended on Knockeen in September, there was cause for celebration earlier in the year.
For the second year in a row, Henry De Bromhead can call himself a Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning Trainer, after Rachael Blackmore guided 'A Plus Tard' to victory.
12 months on from the race that eluded her, Blackmore made no mistakes this time out hitting the winning post fifteen lengths clear of last year's winner and stablemate 'Minella Indo'.
In doing so, she has become the first woman to win the Gold Cup, along with the Aintree Grand National.
While the Gold Cup win was one of the highlights, stable star Honeysuckle's year did not end how her trainer would have liked.
She began her calendar year in style defending her unbeaten status with a routinely impressive run at Leopardstown to take the Champion Hurdle. Similar results would follow in March and April when she ran to victory at both Cheltenham and Punchestown, but eventually, all good things do come to an end.
Her most recent outing at Fairyhouse saw the unbeaten tag stripped away. A lacklustre 6th place finish has started De Bromhead thinking about what races she should be run in and when he was last asked his thoughts were leaning towards a Mares Hurdle in the future.
Outside of Knockeen, there was plenty of big moments for other Waterford trainers. Bob Murphy had a huge moment with Darrens Hope. The 8-year-old was a 20-1 outsider in the Novice Chase at Punchestown but regardless of her backing, she delivered big with Danny Mullins in the saddle.
Paddy Corkery was always celebrating this year when Master McShee defied the odds at Limerick. The 40-year-old jockey Ian Power was in the saddle in the Treaty County when the Waterford-trained horse ran to victory in what was just his second start over fences.
Rugby
A big win over a South African XV is the stand-out moment for Munster in 2022.
The once-great province have not blown the doors off the 2022-2023 season as of yet, but the signs of growth are there to give even the most skeptical a sense of hope.
Graeme Rowntree took the reigns at Thomond Park this year, with Johann Van Graan gone to Bath.
It hasn't been the great restart that the fans would have wanted however as the province have struggled to put wins back to back. There has been moments when they have shined - the win over the Bulls in the URC being a big one. The young players have been given their chances with plenty of academy talent getting blooded.
Jack O Donoghue has picked up where he left off last year. The 2021-2022 player of the season for Munster has continued to captain the side while Peter O Mahony has been unavailable, while Thomas Ahern has been suffering some bad luck with injuries. His ongoing shoulder issue is set to see him sidelined for the immediate future.
Athletics
Barry Keane of Waterford AC has called America home for some time. Representing Butler University he ran to a first-place finish of the NCAA Division 1 Big East Cross Country Championships over 8km in Highland Park, Massachusetts on Saturday, October 29th in a time of 23 minutes 15 seconds. Keane was also in action at the European Cross Country Championship for Team Ireland where the men's senior team placed 8th, with Keane home in 33rd.
Kate Veale was once again dominant in her discipline. The long-time race walking champion blitzed the field in Dublin in recent weeks to retain her 35km title as well as picking up the 20km along the way. That makes it national title number 19 for the West Waterford athlete. Kate also picked up wins in both the Dutch and Swiss 10K Race Walking Championships in the space of a week. She also won a 5000 metres race in Leeds and had a personal best in the 10,000 metres at a meeting in Coventry of 48.47.84 where she finished 3rd.
Olympian Thomas Barr did not have the year he would have liked. Running 8 times this year his best runs came at home where he retained his national 400m hurdles title with relative ease, despite the poor weather conditions. Outside of home shores, he ran to two third-place finishes in Italy and Doha in the early season events, prior to winning the nationals. In July he flew to the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon and while he took 2nd in the heats, his semi-final run was not what he would have wanted - finishing 5th. The European Championship meanwhile were a similar story. A 1st place in the heats was followed by a 3rd place in the semi-finals. All in all, it's likely not the year that Barr would have hoped for, but Paris 2024 is fast approaching and Barr will be keen to return to his best for the big one.
Joe Gough claimed the European Master's Indoor title for over 65's in the 1500 metres as well as coming 3rd in the 800m. Joe was also on the Irish O65 team that won the World Mountain Trail Championships n the Comeraghs, while he also led the Irish O65 X-County team to victory in the 5 Nation Home Countries International.
