Zoom sessions, Bakewell Tarts and website building

It has been five weeks since Britain’s point-to-point season was brought to a halt by the Covid-19 virus, but the spare time has not been wasted on competitors.

Trainer/rider Will Milburn, who is based in Yorkshire, is continuing to work for licensed trainer Mark Walford, but with yards merely on tick-over while waiting for a racing resumption, Milburn has been reviving some old skills. He says: “I’ve been trying to do a bit of gardening, I’ve been walking and biking to work in the afternoons and yesterday I baked a Bakewell Tart. Let’s say my baking is a work in progress, but it wasn’t too bad. In fact it was easier than I expected.”

Milburn says he has no plans to enter his creation in the local flower and produce show – not that any are taking place at present – although he admitted: “When I was a kid I grew some vegetables and entered them in the Leavening Village Show, but I didn’t win anything.

Yorkshire-based Will Milburn

“It was disappointing that the season ended early, but we were luckier than many. I know people who didn’t get to run their horses. We had four runners, Six A Side won twice, Super Lunar was second and we ran a first-time-out filly [Simplystic] who was second at Alnwick to one of Gearoid Costelloe’s. I think it could be said we ‘bumped into one’.

“We were hoping to run her at Tabley, and, if she ran well, offer her for sale. Now we might run her in a bumper under Rules later in the summer.”

Oxfordshire’s Alan Hill has seen the light when it comes to technology, having joined the tens of thousands who are utilising Zoom, the video conferencing application which could have been invented for lockdown.

Unable to travel to a pre-arranged Point-to-Point Authority Board meeting in his capacity as the Masters of Foxhounds’ Association representative, Hill zoomed in from his kitchen this morning, and then said: “That was my third Zoom conference, following one for the PPSA [Secretaries’ Association] and one for the local hunt. The next Board meeting is scheduled to be in London in June, and when Andrew Merriam [chairman] said he wouldn’t want a meeting in London for all the tea in China I had to point out he wouldn’t want one in China either!”

Reflecting on life since lockdown, Hill says: “Kingston Blount [the nearby point-to-point course where he handles much of the maintenance] is being slowly dismantled, which is a pity because it is looking perfect now. It would have required a lot of watering, but it’s a shame not to be racing there, and I’m busy on the farm.

Leading point-to-point trainer Alan Hill

“It’s normally easy to rough horses off in May and June when it takes a week to acclimatise before they can live out. This time we were trying to do the same thing much earlier and the temperature seemed to drop at night once the process started so it’s taken longer than ideal. I’ve kept one horse in that I’m riding myself because he had a year off, and we’ve kept a couple of staff on and furloughed others.

“We’re breaking in some young horses, [son] Joe’s flat out pressure washing and because we’re down on staff I’ve never been so busy on the farm. I’ve fertilised the whole farm twice and sprayed it once, something I’ve not done myself since I was in my 20s.

“We’re building a new jumping lane, upgrading the all-weather gallop and working on the grass gallop and fences, so we are busy, and recognise how lucky we are to live on a farm and have plenty to do.

“The one thing I’m missing is the local pub, and since it shut a mate of mine, Neil [Astor, well-known South Midlands bookie], has been walking to fill the time and lost a stone. Stuart Nash [mainstay at Kingston Blount and an owner in Hill’s yard] has been going through his old point-to-point memorabilia collection, so people are catching up with jobs and keeping busy.”

In Somerset the lockdown has given trainer Stuart Payne a chance to launch his first website, Stuartpayneracing.co.uk. He says: “I’m quite pleased with the outcome, and since we wanted to take the training side seriously it was important to get a website.”

A qualified fitness instructor, Payne has been multi-tasking by acting as a driver for top jockey Harry Cobden, travelling to race meetings across Britain and fitting in the role of training a handful of pointers with partner Chloe Emsley, who is a well-known rider in the West Country. Their aim is to increase the horses in their yard.

Payne says: “When the season ended suddenly we were struggling for somewhere to turn horses out, but Harry has a few paddocks at his home and that has worked out great. They are right outside Harry’s house, but I drive up there twice a day to check them over.

Trainer Stuart Payne, who has just launched his new website

“Chloe has been riding out for Polly Gundry and then helping me with a breaker and a couple of older horses each afternoon, but she is in the unfortunate position of having been self-employed for less than a year, so does not qualify for any financial help under the scheme announced by the Chancellor. She’s been going to Polly’s four days a week, but is now down to two days a week, so is looking around for more work, which isn’t easy in the current situation.

“The season ended just too soon for us. We had a nice new horse that we hoped to run at Kilworthy, but I’m so glad we got on the road just before the lockdown and went to Higham with Dry Ol’Party. It was a long journey, but the track suited and she ran a cracker to be third, and not beaten far.

“Now I’m doing a lot of tidying up, still working on the website and watching reruns on Racing TV.”