Cynthia Higgon: one of point-to-pointing’s finest

One of point-to-pointing’s greatest contributors, Cynthia Higgon, has died after battling cancer for many years. She was 86.

Higgon was passionate about the sport, she hunted all her life, became a familiar face at race meetings as a steward, and owned and trained point-to-pointers. However, she was best known for the administrative skills which saw her rise to become head of the Point-to-Point Secretaries’ Association (PPSA) which organises meetings and has a key role in creating the fixtures’ list.

She was the first PPSA chairman to sit at the sport’s top table when both that body and the Point-to-Point Owners’ Association (before the Owners’ & Riders’ Association formed) were invited to join it by The Jockey Club and Masters of Foxhounds’ Association, which to that point had run the sport as a duopoly.

A dedicated attendee at every significant event in the sport’s calendar, she had a ready smile for everyone, but also the diplomatic skills, cool head and intelligence needed to make tough decisions.

Representing West Wales on the Owners’ & Riders’ Association and the PPSA committee for 40 years, she was chairman at a time when the sport was run from the Jockey Club’s Portman Square offices. Jockey Club employee Simon Claisse, who later became clerk of the course at Cheltenham, had responsibility for the sport.

He said: “When I started at The Jockey Club in 1989 Cynthia was vice chairman of the PPSA with Colonel [Arthur] Clerke-Brown as chairman. She helped ease me into the point-to-point role. Her knowledge was so extensive as an administrator and through ownership that she became my go-to person.

“She had an important role in introducing a national schedule [which became the Planner] which proved really beneficial. Until that point there were 14 schedules [of races] for each area, and you had to contact the secretary in each area to obtain one.

“You couldn’t find a more even-handed person, which made her perfectly suited to the role of steward, and she was never happy with status quo if she could see improvements could be made.”

Robert Killen, who later became PPSA chairman, said: “When Cynthia was chairman she had an office at Portman Square and would travel to London for meetings with Simon. The PPSA committee at that time included such well-known figures as Urkie Newton and Hunter Rowe, people with strong views, but Cynthia had the ability to keep everyone on board.

“For me she was the First Lady of point-to-pointing, and when I became chairman some years later she was often my first port of call and there with ready advice. If there was a meeting to attend she would come to my house, always arriving punctually, and we would discuss issues on the drive. I always respected her views, but we had a lot of laughs too. She was enormous fun.”

The Cynthia Higgon Award for services to administration within the sport has become a treasured piece of recognition for officials around Britain. It is presented at the National Dinner & Awards ceremony.

Higgon presented it in person for many years, but at its inauguration she was in for a shock. Killen said: “We decided that the best recipient was Cynthia herself, but we kept it a secret. She kept asking who was going to receive it, and I kept saying, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll make the announcement and you present the award’. On the night she was so cross when we announced her name, but I think she forgave us.”

Robert Killen: ‘For me she was the First Lady of point-to-pointing’

Born and raised in Gloucestershire, she was introduced to the sport as a child. In an interview with former Welsh correspondent Brian Lee she said: “On Easter Sundays it would be church in the morning, a family lunch, then to Ryalls Court to clean the number board for the Croome point-po-point on Easter Tuesday.” Her recollection of attending the Worcestershire’s Lady Dudley Cup meeting was that “the atmosphere was electric, just like the Grand National”.

Good horses that Higgon owned and trained included Sir Noddy, who in 1989 won three on the bounce and was a candidate for the country’s leading novice, while Terrierman was named after her husband, Peter. She followed her father into the mastership of the Pembrokeshire Hunt and was following hounds on the back of a thoroughbred into her 80s.

Beverley Thomas, who took over from Higgon as West Wales secretary, said: “One of her finest legacies is The Planner, which she was instrumental in instigating, and she stewarded all over the country. She was a key organiser of the Royal Welsh Show at Builth Wells, and she was incredibly resilient, as we saw in her battles with cancer. She initiated inter-hunt relays at shows around Wales.

“If you asked Cynthia to do something she gave it her all. Nothing was too much trouble and if there was a fund-raising event she was there.”

Higgon is survived by her husband, nephews and nieces.