New regulation sees keepers take responsibility

Imagine a trainer blaming the owner when a horse arrives late into the paddock or at the start without declared blinkers.

Curiously, British trainers of point-to-pointers have – until now – been able to pass the buck in such fashion (in theory at least), a throwback to bygone days when point-to-pointers were owner-trained or trained by their anonymous groom. Gradually, but more noticeably in the 1970s and 80s, yards began to emerge run by people who treated the training of pointers as an income generator. To distinguish them from licensed premises, they were termed livery yards.

They flourished because they specialised and therefore won races, and they could provide a service to a new type of owner who enjoyed the sport, but had no facilities to prep their own pointers. As costs rose and farmers cut back on staff, many found they had limited time to jolly around their land on a pointer and they too began patronising these livery yards.

Point-to-pointing has led the way on some key issues – think women riders and Sunday racing – but it can also be slow to break with tradition. Yet for the 2023/24 season which opens with a single fixture in Devon on Sunday, point-to-point trainers – aka keepers in Britain and handlers in Ireland – will have official responsibility for the horses in their care for the first time. Owners can retain or share some responsibility for aspects of the role – an example would be making race-day declarations.

Point-to-pointing is a slimmer sport with generally higher standards than the one which approached the start of this millennium. Medical and veterinary protocols emulate those seen under Rules, courses are inspected and Regulations set by the BHA provide the guidelines upon which race-day stewards act. Riders have never been fitter or better prepared and most know the benefits of beetroot over burgers and kombucha over cold lager.

The numbers of horses and fixtures have been steadily dropping this millennium, but the core is strong and – every year – new horses and human faces appear. Equines are either home-bred or bought as stores to begin racing at the age of four or five – some with a view to being sold at auction – and then there are the former hurdlers and chasers whose careers can be extended for many seasons. Figures from the Point-to-Point Authority (PPA) state that 686 ex-hurdlers/chasers ran in British point-to-points last season.

There has been human migration between the two sports for decades, but a recent one that catches the eye sees former jockey Charlie Poste (pictured above with wife Francesca) taking the role of chairman of the Point-to-Point Owners’ & Riders’ Association, which gives him a seat on the influential PPA Board.

The new season has scheduled 132 fixtures across Britain. Point-to-point trainers can also target hunters’ chases – although their number has reduced markedly from 139 in 2000 to 59 last season – plus a handful of point-to-point bumpers run on licensed courses in the spring.

Six years ago, a Flat race was held on a point-to-point course for the first time, and it too caught the imagination, with 22 runners in two divisions. John Reddington, a familiar amateur face in bumpers under Rules, landed one division and his JRL Group is about to sponsor a series of ten such races, with bonuses for British-breds and £500 prizes for the leading trainer and rider.

JRL Group Ltd owner John Reddington winning on Lostin A Fog at Barbury in 2017 (Neale Blackburn)

Loyal sponsors The Jockey Club, Retraining of Racehorses, Tattersalls Cheltenham and Goffs are all back for the new season, although prize money remains under constraint to avoid the sport becoming a financial rival to Jump racing. At a time of rising costs, that is a thorny subject, for the sport has to attract and retain participants, and prize money is an obvious incentive.

On a similar theme, the sport has to market itself, and, while hamstrung by the lack of funds most amateur sports endure, it has national and regional websites and social media strands to get the message out. Those in the sport use pointtopoint.co.uk in a number of ways, while a new website – gopointing.com – has been launched to provide information to both casual racegoers and aficionados. There is also a free weekly digital magazine called Go Pointing, which can be accessed via pointtopoint.co.uk