IT is typically in the fields of Ballinaboola, Bellharbour and Tallow that we get our first glimpse of the newest crop of four-year-olds in competitive action, but this year an all bumper card for point-to-pointers at Punchestown on Monday week will mark something of a belated resumption to the current season.

Albeit taking place in a somewhat different guise, the upcoming fixture at the Co. Kildare venue, alongside further meetings at Wexford and Tipperary throughout the month of March, does at least provide a much-needed release to the blockage in the system that has built up since the suspension of point-to-point racing in mid-January.

Arguably the most welcome element of this joint effort on the part of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee (INHSC) has been the decision to allow those point-to-point handlers who do not currently hold either a full or restricted trainers licence to participate at these fixtures specifically.

The previous effort to alleviate (in a small way) the effects of the suspension by allowing horses with a hunter certificate to run on the track, has certainly been taken up on by an ever-increasing number of connections.

However from the moment it was announced, the INHSC admitted that the measure could only ever be a minor amendment to assist a limited number of horses because it was only those handlers with the necessary track licence that could take advantage of it.

Now these additional fixtures which are targeted at the point-to-point community will be open to all handlers and the efforts of those within both organizations that have been involved in making all the necessary modifications to accommodate this, have to be commended for ensuring that these fixtures become a reality.

Top of the agenda

In tandem to this however, the efforts to ensure that point-to-pointing here resumes at the earliest possible juncture must remain at the top of the agenda, as it would seem that some other equestrian disciplines have enjoyed better fortunes in their efforts during these latest restrictions.

Last Sunday, Cavan Equestrian Centre played host to seven different classes of show jumping competition, while the Irish Harness Racing Association continues to build towards the start of their new season at Portmarnock on March 21st.

A similar date for the resumption of point-to-point racing would go some significant way to relieving the current levels of stress being felt by handlers across the country, as with the time sensitivities around the interconnected elements of weather and ground, each additional week of racing before the ground dries up would have substantial benefits.

When that full restart does happen, one of the first puzzles to be solved will be with the scheduling of race meetings and how the remaining weeks of the season are programmed.

Since the January 13th announcement which brought the season to a standstill, 22 fixtures were lost throughout the months of January and February, with a further 19 due to have taken place this month.

That would bring the number of fixtures lost up to the Easter weekend over the 40 mark.

Aside from the obvious difficulties caused to riders, handlers and owners, each lost meeting also has a financial impact on the organising hunt committee and for some this is not the first hit that they have experienced.

Point-to-points in March such as Belclare, Durrow, Ballynoe, Inch and Liscarroll were cancelled last year when the pandemic first struck resulting in the shutdown of racing, and they could be faced with a similar eventuality for the second year in succession.

If, as was indicated in the HRI press release last week, point-to-pointing does not resume until after April 5th at the earliest, that would leave just a further 14 fixtures in April and 16 in May.

Accommodating

The possibility then of accommodating some of the lost fixtures who are willing to reschedule does enter the reckoning and our nearest neighbours in Britain may provide some indication as to a possible approach that could be followed.

The British government has permitted grassroots sport to recommence after Sunday March 28th, and the Point-to-Point Authority has published a revised fixtures list providing 12 weeks of racing with 54 fixtures over 27 individual racedays with a particular emphasis on restarting immediately after that opening up point.

They have scheduled four fixtures for the very next day on Monday March 29th, with further additional midweek fixtures throughout that opening week taking place on Tuesday, March 30th and Friday, April 2nd.

The option of holding selected point-to-point racing here away from the weekends while the sport remains behind closed doors would afford a limited number of opportunities to those committees that have lost their original date with the chance of some compensation.

This is possible given that the funding was already in place for a significantly larger season.

In the relatively recent past we have already seen the likes of the Carlow Farmers point-to-point at Borris House rescheduling to a Friday back in 2018 when the ‘Beast from the East’ storm interrupted the early March schedule of that year, and following that approach of adding the additional midweek fixtures immediately from the point of a return could well be the best way of accommodating additional fixtures without producing small fields, as it would coincide with the time when the demand is likely to be at its peak.

THE combined elements of the Covid-19 restrictions and additional Brexit regulations have had a notable impact on the size of the entries for the handicap races at the upcoming Cheltenham Festival and that trend of reduced entries has also filtered through to the St. James’s Place Festival Hunter Chase.

The race has traditionally fielded a capacity line-up of 24 runners, with recent oversubscribed renewals leaving many connections left disappointed having failed to make the final cut come race day.

That will not be the case this year, as only 24 entries have been received for the March 19th contest, down considerably on the average of 40 entries from across the past 10 years and it ensures that all of the 24 entrants will be guaranteed their place in the final line up.

The suspension of grassroots sport in Britain, which has resulted in the suspension of point-to-point racing there since the beginning of January, has arguably had the greatest impact of all on the entry numbers for this race, which was to be expected in spite of the efforts of the BHA to ease the qualification criteria somewhat for this year’s renewal.

Most significantly, that suspension on grassroots sport in Britain will result in this year’s racing being run with professional jockeys, something which has been a feature in all of the British hunter chases run this season.

This is the most bitter of bills to swallow for the Irish qualified riders who have been permitted to continue race-riding here, and will leave the almost incomprehensible situation where last year’s winning rider Maxine O’Sullivan can travel to Prestbury Park and lead up the defending champion It Came To Pass, but yet is not permitted to ride in the race.

Irish Entries

Billaway – Willie Mullins

It Came To Pass – Eugene O’Sullivan

Kruzhlinin – Gordon Elliott

Mighty Stowaway – Gordon Elliott

Solomn Grundy – Sean Doyle

Staker Wallace – Enda Bolger

Stand Up And Fight – Enda Bolger