Innovation, change and excitement – back last weekend

Between Storms Babet and Ciaran, it has been no easy task preparing tracks for the opening weeks of Britain’s point-to-point season.

This article first appeared in the Racing Post on Friday 3rd November.

The first of 132 scheduled meetings unfurled on Sunday at Dunsmore in Devon, but this weekend’s fixture at Knightwick in Worcestershire has been postponed until February. Whisper it quietly out of earshot of clerks of the course, but at least the prevailing sogginess should ensure decent racing when it happens – better that than dry weather and firm ground.

The Point-to-Point Authority (PPA) would welcome a nudge up in horse numbers this season, and there is no doubting that across Britain there is a love of the game which is infectious. Warwickshire’s Tom Ellis (pictured above flanked by wife Gina Andrews and her brother Jack), who landed his fifth trainers’ championship last season, said with unashamed excitement at his recent owners’ day: “I literally cannot wait for the new season to begin.” With a yard of about 60 horses including some potentially talented hunter chasers, who could blame him?

Attempts to spread the winning experience have resulted in the expansion of grass roots races for the 2023/24 season, having been introduced in Devon & Cornwall. Novice riders’ races, for those with no more than five winners at a season’s start, have been an excellent invention – but once into senior class, rider opportunities can slim down. The new races will be restricted to those with no more than 20 winners or not holding a Category A or B licence to ride as amateurs under Rules.

Trainers have become responsible for their horses, which might seem obvious, but – until now – if a horse was late into the paddock, the owner could be fined. This was a throwback to decades past when all pointers were owner-trained or trained by their stud groom – and you could hardly fine the bloke being paid five bob a week. Owners can still choose to take official responsibility, while another change sees acceptance that owners’ and trainers’ names can be shown on clothing in the paddock.

The sport has had to accept that the days when hundreds of farmers and landowners would keep a small string ticking over have gone – with some welcome exceptions – and that we now have a more professional sport. A new commercial edge, in which hand-picked four- and five-year-olds will run once or twice before being sold into licensed yards, is another contemporary feature.

Point-to-pointing has long been a platform from which to sell a horse, but – in the past – deals were done over a whisky in the lorry park. In this millennium, the sales ring at Cheltenham was established, point-to-pointers became the staple fare, and similar sales have opened at other venues.

Traditionalists may not enjoy the commercial side of British point-to-pointing, but recognise a section of it has been pulled that way by outside events and has encouraged a raft of talented practitioners, some with new owners who might not be players otherwise.

A new website, gopointing.com, has joined pointtopoint.co.uk in being the frontispiece for the sport. The newcomer is aimed at the casual racegoer, while also providing easy-to-access information for the sport’s participants.