ON Tuesday evening, March 21st, Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM) launched their sponsorship of six ladies point-to-point races. The launch was hosted at Kildare Village.

The ITM ladies series is a points based series, which aims to promote opportunities for lady riders within point-to-pointing, and will take place over six rounds between Easter Sunday and the series finale on the concluding day of the season.

The series starts at Quakerstown in Co Clare on April 16th followed by Lisronagh in Clonmel on April 29th, Strabally Hall in County Laois on May 14th, Dromahane in County Cork on May 21st, and Kinsale in County Cork on June 4th. The finale will take place on June 5th in Ballingarry, Co Tipperary on the final day of the point-to-point season.

The launch was attended by a number of well-known guests from right across the sport including reigning point-to-point ladies champions Sheila Ahern and Liz Lalor, alongside Katie Walsh, Rachael Blackmore, Kate Harrington, Maxine O’Sullivan, Evanna McCutcheon, Shauna Larkin, Irene Walsh, Horse Racing Ireland CEO Brian Kavanagh, INHS Committee Senior Stewart Peter Allen, Senior Stewart of the Turf Club Meta Osborne, Point-to-Point Handlers Association Chairman Gerry Kelleher, trainer Ted Walsh and representatives of each hunt who will host a round of the series this season.

Sarah Nash, Marketing Manager of ITM, said: “Irish Thoroughbred Marketing are delighted to sponsor the Point-to-Point ladies series. Point-to-pointing in Ireland is seen as the nursery and grass roots of the National Hunt industry and Horse Racing Ireland in conjunction with INHS committee continue to increase point-to-point funding which saw a rise to €2.2 million for 2017. Supporting the point-to-point industry remains a focus for ITM and this series comes in addition to our Mares Handler Prize, the point-to-point feature within the Irish Angle on ATR and sponsorship of the International point-to-point. We wish all the riders the best of luck in the series and luck forward to the final at the end of the season.”

Point-to-Point Regional Secretary, Frankie Ward, commented: “We were absolutely thrilled with the turnout at the launch last night. In the point-to-point field, the ladies in particular haven’t had as many opportunities to ride, however following some recent great successes on the track, hopefully we can build on this. I would also like to thank Minister Creed for his support of the Irish point-to-point industry.”