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In the final Racing Post article of the season, Carl Evans casts an eye over the state of the sport.
This article first appeared in the Racing Post on Friday 9th June.
Another point-to-point season reached a conclusion last weekend at Umberleigh in Devon.
At the sport’s core, life hums like an overworked beehive, for there are buoyant fixtures run to a high standard, passionate competitors and racegoers, horses of all valuations trained to a high degree and the highest standards of veterinary and medical care. Point-to-pointing continues to play a key role in supporting racing, particularly over jumps, by providing young recruits and taking in older horses.
Good governance from the BHA and Point-to-Point Authority (PPA), and solid support from sponsors and the Levy Board give this amateur sport a professional look, while a host of riding stars headed by national champions Gina Andrews and Will Biddick would grace any racecourse at any level. In Warwickshire-based Tom Ellis the sport has a trainer whose operation epitomises excellence, as a record 71 winners this season testifies. Geographically he is well placed to attract patronage from a wide area, but investment in his facilities, clever use of social media and providing owners with a good time at the races have been factors in a snowball of success.
Yet in some areas of Britain the sport has shrunk markedly. PPA chief executive Peter Wright fought a brilliant campaign to keep point-to-pointing moving during Covid lockdowns, but establishing stability and growing the horse population requires a longer game plan. Jake Exelby has joined the PPA to support Peter and part of his remit is to bring more horses into the sport – but his marketing budget is small.
In essence, it is currently the same sport which rose to a crescendo of popularity in 2000, when some 4,400 pointers were registered and farmers and their families maintained a steady supply of human and equine competitors. Then the world sped up, small-scale farming became less viable, work forces streamlined, family values changed and new attractions sought the rural dweller’s leisure pound.
Changes in farming practices and steepling rises in land prices in the East and South East have affected the sport there, while in Wales a two-year hiatus caused by Covid lockdowns more strictly imposed than in England has been a contributory factor. Conversely the Northern Area, which includes Scotland, attracted 438 runners to ten meetings during the current season, which is a laudable figure. From there to the West Country the sport has much to enjoy, shout about and view optimistically, albeit with smaller numbers.
