A wander through the 2025/26 season – Carl Evans takes a view of some key moments

Improved minimum and maximum prize money levels, three new race series, encouragement for novice riders, an improved Levy Board grant, greater buy-in of social media coverage – those were all positive messages before the 2025/26 season faced the tapes.

It then got away to a cracking start with a meeting at the Welsh course of Lower Machen (pictured above) which deserved all the plaudits it received, and as we Serpentined through the season there were heaps more goodies to place before avid followers and those for whom the sport is an occasional look-in. The best hunter chaser on either side of the Irish Sea, Barton Snow, was trained in Cheshire (albeit he has an Irish background), there were landmark moments for the sport’s top two riders, Gina Andrews and James King, a last-gasp finale to the Connolly’s Red Mills leading horse award and numerous successes for ex-pointers in races under rules, including one by Maisemore Park winner Ask Brewster at the Cheltenham Festival.

Gina Andrews and James King, national champions once again in the 2025/26 season (Ce)

Highflyer Bloodstock novice champions Katie Featherstone and Lucas Murphy reached the top in very diverse, ways. At the age of 16 he launched like an embryonic Sean Bowen, entering the no.1 spot on his second ride, amassing 18 winners in his first season and looking every inch the son of a former top jockey – which he is, for his dad is Grand National winner Timmy Murphy. Featherstone proved you do not need a racing association nor a rapid start in order to win a title, for seven seasons after entering the sport she hit full stride and took the novice women’s championship with 11 winners – at the age of 30. Her example should encourage other riders who find winners or recognition hard to achieve. Murphy was one of 66 riders who rode in point-to-points for the first time, up from 39 the previous season.

A fellow newbie, Dewi Haddock, not only rode a commendable four winners in his debut season he also landed the inaugural Point-to-Point Authority (PPA) and Jockey Club ‘Hands & Heels’ Series, which was designed to give novice riders education and training – in other words how to push a horse out without recourse to the whip. Of the ten-planned races in the series Haddock rode in four, won two and was placed in the other two, picking up 14 points along the way. He joins fellow winners at the National Awards Dinner held at Cheltenham racecourse on Saturday, June 27.

Cheltenham’s unwanted hole

All these good news stories deserve an airing, for by the season’s end a sense of melancholy relating to issues beyond the sport’s control had been revealed in social media posts and around-the-paddock comments.

It was not the sport’s fault that a hole appeared in the home straight at Cheltenham and forced the much-loved evening hunters’ chase meeting to be temporarily rehomed at Warwick – thank heavens The Jockey Club, which owns both courses, is such a loyal supporter of point-to-pointing and therefore found a workable solution when other racecourse owners would have merely posted ‘meeting abandoned’ notices.

It was not the sport’s fault that equine flu emerged and forced an early end to the hunters’ chase  season, removing a total of ten races including the important Stratford evening card. The dreaded bug, one which has reared its head before, also hit the Welsh International at the Pembrokeshire venue of Ffynnon Druidion which opened 12 months earlier. Irish runners had given the inaugural fixture a healthy start, but equine flu meant they were not allowed to take part in the second year with inevitable impact.

Disappointment was soon voiced at the cull on hunters’ chases, and the vocal made many worthy and heart-felt comments. They pointed out that all pointers, like horses running under rules, must be vaccinated against flu, that a number of pointers are housed in yards adjacent to horses who are running under rules (racing under rules continued unabated) and that a sale in Doncaster, which was taking place when the suspension was announced, was a mass gathering of pointers and rules horses. Some could have gone straight from the sales complex to a racecourse and been in action the following day.

Up stepped Ilona Barnett, chairman of the Point-to-Point Secretaries’ Association (PPSA) and managing director at Stratford to answer, on the Pointing Pointers podcast, some direct questions relating to equine flu and other subjects. In one of her final acts as chair of the PPSA (she stepped down after the season’s end, handing over to Beverley Thomas) Barnett said measures to save the evening meeting had been considered, including swapping it for the card of handicap chases and hurdles which take place a day later on a Saturday afternoon. That would have been financially damaging given the money which her Saturday card can make, said Barnett, while a 24-hour disinfectant operation after the hunters had raced was unviable.

Former PPSA chair Ilona Barnett who provided some frank answers on a tricky subject (Ce)

Vet Josie Bennett – in a column in trainer Charlie (and Mark) Johnston’s monthly magazine – wrote: “Vaccination remains the most effective defence against equine influenza, but vaccinated horses can still become infected. Vaccination does however tend to reduce the severity of illness, shorten the viral shedding and decrease the likelihood of transmission.” Anyone thinking the hunters’ chase suspension proves vaccination is pointless should bear her words in mind.

Too wet, too dry and everything in between

And finally to the most consequential and common of all the issues for which point-to-pointing cannot be blamed; the weather. Too wet, too dry and everything in between is an issue which the sport has worked hard to master, primarily through improved watering methods.

Very wet and dry conditions prevailed during the season, although dry was not confined to the final months. The season’s expected first meeting – in early November at Knightwick in Worcestershire – was dropped due to lack of rain which affected grass growth, while a fixture the following week at free-draining Badbury Rings was hit by small fields and a void race. It was set to be a match, but when one horse was withdrawn after being declared connections of the other shunned a walkover and withdrew.

However, the aforementioned Lower Machen near Newport in South Wales, helped by rain which arrived in time and proved a bit of a dampener on the day, served up a grand fixture having been plucked from obscurity after a seven-year break. In the meantime the land had been acquired by racehorse owner Dai Walters who gave a green light to reinstate and improve the racing line. Tim Jones, a top rider in his day, took on clerk of the course duties and with help from passionate fans of the sport in Wales put together a fixture which deserves to herald a new season for many years to come. With 56 runners in six races, a very good crowd and numerous runners from across the Severn Bridge it was a terrific reintroduction

Baron Du Brizais (James King) who won the GB Pointing Bonus Young Horse Maiden when Lower Machen reopened its doors (Alun Sedgmore)

Fifty-six runners would have been insignificant in two decades before the millennium, but in the 26 years that have followed countless elements have contrived against many amateur sports. Point-to-pointing is not lying down despite fewer horses – it can still put on a damn good show and crowd sizes were up in the latest season with some fixtures reporting record attendance.

Anomalies will always occur, and a fixture at Horseheath – a superb course for competitors and spectators – attracted just 26 entries (why so few?) for its late November meeting and was therefore abandoned, while the first weekend of January proved blank after nationwide frost claimed two meetings. Then waterlogging took over in the middle of that month and hit fixtures across the country. Excellent behind-the-scenes work saw a late change to the maiden races at Milborne St Andrew, but three attempts to stage the fixture were washed out.

Cocklebarrow in the Cotswolds relishes a deluge and was never in doubt, and the usual huge number of attendees – many there for the social scene – included the leader of the opposition, Conservative MP Kemi Badenoch. She placed a bet on one race, but for some reason avoided favourite Mumbo Jumbo who won under Gina Andrews.

Kemi Badenoch, sharing a coffee at Cocklebarrow with Charlie Brooks and placing a bet (other political party leaders are available) (Ce)

Another rain-soaked weekend arrived in mid-February with the loss of Duncombe Park and Buckfastleigh, denying the prospect of one or two young British horses heading to Tattersalls Cheltenham for the following Friday’s sale. Sales of young pointers and the dates on which they are held have become a factor which the sport should follow closely, staging races and fixtures which enable commercial trainers to funnel horses towards the auction ring. That might be tail-wagging-dog to some, but it is a contemporary reality which cannot be ignored.

In March the weather turned and perfect underfoot conditions prevailed, but by early April and the Easter weekend the signs were ominous. Too much rain had become too little and trainers became cautious, understandably given that there were seven weeks of the season ahead.

Matches began popping up – and more than one on some cards – while two walkovers at Penshurst was a sadness for everyone who hopes the South-East area can retain a healthy place in the sport’s nationwide profile. That is also true for the North-West Area, where in April it was announced Tabley would close after the second of its two fixtures, although hopes were expressed that a replacement venue could be created.

Tabley point-to-point venue in Cheshire, popular with the crowds, but apparently now closed (Ce)

As May unfurled the weather proved particularly arid in the south, although wetter conditions in the north meant it was not a record dry month for the whole of Britain. A heatwave added to the work load for clerks of courses as the month wore on and they battled to produce safe ground and decent racing for the five fixtures which were to complete the championship season, but one at Bratton Down in North Devon – where watering is not possible – hit a nadir with three walkovers.

Despite that the total number of walkovers for the whole season dropped to eight, down from 14 the previous year. Void races were reduced from 14 to six, with both sets of figures indicating that the PPA’s push for six-race cards had a positive outcome. A slight national increase in average runners per race – 5.82 for statisticians – was another pointer to the advantage of six, not seven races. While referring to average runners a thumbs-up should be given to the Northern Area which recorded 6.46 runners per race at 11 meetings despite limitations due to its geographical location.

On the final two days of racing 87 horses took part at Kingston Blount, Chaddesley Corbett and Upcott Cross and buckets of water were liberally administered to cool runners down. At Chaddesley Corbett the first four were dismounted at the foot of the hill to the winner’s enclosure and dowsed with water while their riders were driven to scale in a pick-up truck.

Racing journalist and Grand National-winning jockey Marcus Armytage helps to cool off Gracchus De Balme on the season’s very hot final weekend (Ce)

Reigning men’s champion James King, on the cusp of landing his fifth national title, rode six winners during the weekend, his victories including two of special significance at Chaddesley Corbett where the Luke Price-trained Lady Bee Great won the Jockey Club-sponsored maiden mares’ final and her stablemate, Lavorante, landed his third win in nine days to take the Connolly’s Red Mills leading horse award. Both horses were led up by groom Evie Toozer who with Georgia Quinn and Lauren Reed comprise the three finalists in this year’s Jockey Club-backed Stable Employee of the Year award to be presented at the National Dinner.

Lavorante’s last-gasp victory denies Clonagoose

Lavorante’s win came 35 minutes after the Emma Summersby-trained five-year-old Clonagoose had won at Upcott Cross, taking the title-race lead with his seventh victory of the season. Yet when ten-year-old Lavorante won soon after taking his win-tally to seven he became champion by virtue of more placings.

John and Sonia Gardener, who own Clonagoose in partnership with Torben Hughes, also pay the fees for six-year-old Woodstock Octo who was unbeaten in six races from Josh Newman’s stable. The Gardeners ended the season with 14 winners and took the Isuzu-sponsored leading owner award.

Connolly’s Red Mills leading horse award winner Lavorante (James King) snatches the title minutes after Clonagoose had headed the table (Alun Sedgmore)

Lavorante’s leading horse win came 12 months after stablemate Inchidaly Robin had gained the title for Price’s stable, and both contributed to King’s tally during the 2025/26 season which reached a personal best score of 66. That was two shy of Will Biddick’s record of victories in one season set 11 years earlier. With Price – a specialist in sourcing and training quick-ground horses – providing the ammunition it seemed nothing could stop King setting a new mark for an entire season when riding at Bratton Down and Umberleigh, two fixtures which fall outside national championships. However, neither course has watering facilities and both meetings were abandoned.

After the PPA announced that Umberleigh had been called off responses came in from at least three trainers – including Price – who said they had no fears over firm ground and would have run horses. Price said he suspected the abandonment was due to lack of entries because no national championships were at stake, yet both meetings counted towards Devon & Cornwall title races. If lack of entries was the deciding factor you have to ask why the locals (or at least a viable number) were unwilling to take part?

Umberleigh has been the scene of some memorable finales, but the number of horses registered to race in point-to-points at the turn of the century was approximately 4,400, some three times more than today and with enough firm-ground specialists to bolster late-season meetings. Meanwhile the general cost of buying a horse and paying training fees, let alone funding veterinary care, have gone up. It cannot be said firm-ground horses were short of opportunities to run in the spring of 2026.

The Jockey Club’s previously-mentioned maiden mares’ final has been patiently waiting for some bonus payouts and it gained two during the season. The winner can double any prize money they win up to £10,000 in their first three runs at Jockey Club-owned racecourses, while the second and third can do likewise to a sum of £5,000. In February the David Dennis-trained Imperial Pride – who won the final in 2024 – completed three runs at such courses having collected nearly £5,000 in bonuses, while in April and May the Max Comley-trained Catwalk Girl, who was placed in last year’s final, gained the maximum £5,000 bonus in two runs, proof that the maiden mares’ series is worth targeting.

Luke Price’s Lady Bee Great, winner of The Jockey Club’s fillies’ & mares’ final and in line for a bonus (Ce)

When it comes to cash similar focus should be given to the Jockey Club’s 0-110-rated series, which, as its title implies, is for horses with a rating no higher than 110. It is therefore tailored towards older horses who have raced under rules, a huge component in the sport and deserving of a dedicated series. The final, a hunters’ chase at Warwick with a prize of nearly £5,000, was won by the Hannah Lewis-trained nine-year-old Malinas Glory under Heidi Palin. The series had its critics, but tweaks are being considered it will return next season.

At the other end of the scale the GB Pointing Bonus Young Horse Maiden Series catered for four- and five-year-olds and was given wide approval by those who focus on converting unbroken horses/stores into race-ready point-to-pointers. It is a skill which requires adequate facilities and talented schooling riders, but can result in hefty profits in the auction ring.

Midem De Berce, ridden by novice men’s champion Lucas Murphy, wins a GB Pointing Bonus race at Maisemore Park and was later sold for £77,500 on his way to a box with trainer Jamie Snowden (Ce)

Of the 15 winners from the series the majority were sold to race under rules – which was the whole idea behind the concept – thereby providing another link in the chain which binds point-to-pointing and jump racing under rules. The carrot was a £25,000 bonus for any GB-bred winner who scored in a developmental hurdle or chase within two years from a licensed yard in Britain and £15,000 for those bred overseas.

It was hoped the bonuses, which were underwritten by the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) with the approval of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), would give the winners added appeal at auction, and on more than one occasion buyers said that had been the case. The first winner in the series, the Luca Morgan-trained Baron Du Brizais, was sold for £90,000 at Goffs’ Coral Cold Cup Sale at Newbury and joined trainer Ben Pauling, while Kingofthefrontier became the first bonus winner – and being bred in Britain he gained a handsome £25,0000 – when landing a maiden hurdle at Southwell in early June for trainer John Dawson. He had bought the five-year-old privately out of Cherry Coward’s stable after seeing him win at Charm Park in March.

Kingofthefrontier with winning rider Joe Wright and trainer Cherry Coward (on right). The five-year-old went on to win £25,000 following his GB Pointing Bonus Young Horse Maiden victory (Tom Milburn)

Good people come and go, and while the retirement just before Christmas of Will Biddick, Britain’s most successful rider, was a blow to those who loved absorbing his silky style in the saddle he will hopefully remain a dominant figure via his training and trading career from stables in Somerset. The 24 winners he saddled last season included two in the GB Pointing Bonus Series, one having been named Six Two Three, which was the number of point-to-point winners Biddick rode in Britain.

Gina Andrews will be sorely missed by impartial racegoers when she finally calls time. The sport’s most successful woman rider landed a record-extending twelfth national women’s title, which was sponsored by Goffs, and she also reached 100 winners under rules when Golden Son won for Paul Nicholls at Taunton in February. A couple of months later she clocked up a century of jumps winners under rules in Britain when scoring on the James Owen-trained My Gift To You. Incidentally, Golden Son and stablemate Viroflay completed a double for rider Olive Nicholls at Newton Abbot in May following which she retired to become fully involved in her dad’s training business. Olive was champion novice point-to-point rider in 2022 and champion hunters’ chase rider the following season – she also brought a handy amount of spotlight to the sport, plus a number of horses who were owned by her father and his friends.

Andrews ended the season with 44 winners, well ahead of runner-up Ellie Callwood who continues to look like a future champion, but in December her key rival, Izzie Hill, who took the championship in the 2023/24 season, suffered a nasty leg fracture while schooling. Hill had partnered three winners from four rides to that point, following which she expressed hopes of being back in action before the season’s end, but that proved not to be the case.

A fine season for Josh Newman

Riders who can look back on a more fruitful season include Josh Newman who recorded a personal best 46 winners and took the runner-up spot in the men’s championship, while he also trained the same number of winners to take the Foran leading trainer title for yards with 15 or more horses. Trainer Chris Barber’s excellent season from stables in Herefordshire resulted in 40 winners and second place behind Newman, while Jenny Owen narrowly headed Charles Clark to take the five-and-under category. Luke Price’s habit of landing titles resulted in him being crowned top trainer with six to 14 horses.

Chris Barber (left), whose excellent season was a key factor in Ed Doggrell’s remarkable change in fortunes (Ce)

Barber also provided Ed Doggrell with the horsepower for a miraculous change in statistics. In six previous seasons in the sport Doggrell had ridden a total of 12 winners, but added 36 last season, a glowing endorsement of the talent he possessed, but which had taken time to find the light.

Doggrell has been nominated as one of three finalists in the Venatour Champagne Moment of the Year award which will be decided at the National Dinner. He, Will Biddick and Henry Crow – who won the Cheltenham and Aintree Foxhunter Chases on the Joe O’Shea-trained Barton Snow – are worthy of a raised glass or two from a season that kept throwing up moments to savour.

I would like to offer four more, starting with Grace A Vous Enki’s victory in the Lady Dudley Cup in the colours of Joan Hitchings, whose husband, Clive, had yearned to win the race for some 50 years. Going close on several occasions only made victory even sweeter.

Darren Andrews went to Trebudannon in Cornwall on Easter Saturday for five rides and partnered five winners, while Guy Sankey and Daisy White – two proper amateurs who combine work with their point-to-point hobby – will never forget their first rides under rules for they each came back a winner. Their victories came in March in hunters’ chases at Ludlow, with White scoring on the only pointer in her yard, Killer Clown, while Sankey won on Great Valley who is owned by a syndicate of friends put together by the rider.

Guy Sankey and Daisy White, who each entered the winner’s enclosure on their first ride under rules (Ce)

Six-year-old Great Valley, who is trained by Neil Gittins, looks a real prospect who should climb a good bit higher, and it is that sort of possibility which keeps sport alive and us hungry for more. Bring on next season.