LAST weekend’s three fixtures at Ballingarry and Tattersalls brought to a close yet another busy point-to-point season. Following one of the most disruption-free seasons in recent years 12 months ago, when 99 fixtures were completed, five fewer fixtures took place this time around, with 94 completed fixtures.
Despite that slight drop, it was a season which featured plenty of positive signs. The average number of entries increased this season to 115, which is a positive for hunt committees, whilst with a total of 5,003 runners throughout the season, the average number of runners per fixture also increased when compared to the 2024/25 campaign.
That figure was boosted by a particularly busy run-up to the season’s conclusion in recent weeks. Since the middle of April, there have been no fewer than 29 divided races, with seven eight-race cards in that seven-week period, the last of which was at Tattersalls last Sunday, whilst there were also four bumper nine-race cards, including the busiest fixture of the season at Ballysteen. That Limerick course played host to 98 runners at the Stonehall fixture in late April.
The number of fixtures in the closing weeks of the season has steadily declined. Looking back 10 years, the season concluded at Ballingarry on June 6th, with 19 fixtures between the beginning of May and that Bank Holiday Monday date.
Condensed supply
This season, that number has dropped to just 12 fixtures, which has had the effect of condensing the supply of fixtures at a time when demand from handlers to run their horses appears to be particularly strong.
Running a fixture in May can come with the challenge and expense of watering, but there would seem to be an opportunity for fixtures to move into May from elsewhere on the calendar, because it can be rewarding. Half of the May fixtures this season featured among the top-20 fixtures by entry numbers, having each received in excess of 150 entries.
Those divided races ensured there were plenty of winning opportunities, and it was encouraging to see that 179 different handlers saddled a winner, up significantly on the 137 from 12 months earlier.
However, the total number of handlers does continue to decline. A total of 408 handlers took out a hunter certificate for at least one horse; this continues a year-on-year fall from a figure which had stood at 651 10 years ago. The prospect of that dropping below the 400-mark next season will be a particular concern for the sport’s authorities.
PAT Doyle signed off on his hugely successful career as a point-to-point handler in fitting style when City Slippers, his final runner in the pointing sphere, dominated the winners-of-two contest at Tattersalls last Sunday by 14 lengths.
As of next season, there will be a new name on the handler’s permit for the Suirview Stables operation, when Pat’s son Jack takes over what is one of the most successful stables in the history of point-to-pointing.
The retiring Doyle may never have had the quantity of horses to be a contender for champion handler honours, however what he instead created was an academy with a roll of honour of past graduates that is the envy of his peers.
Point-to-pointing has changed unrecognizably throughout the duration of his career, and so it is probably one of his most commendable feats to have been able to adapt with that transition to keep himself at the very top at the age of 70.
Season stats
His stats this season alone are proof of the high that he signs off on. The Tipperary handler sent out 20 winners this season to finish second in the handler’s leaderboard, his highest ever placing, a feat that was made possible by a strike rate of 47%, a figure that was only bettered by Ian McCarthy of those in the top 30.
As adept with his handling of top open horses, including the 2018 champion point-to-point horse Sydney Paget, as he is with his four-year-olds, having sent out six four-year-old maiden winners this spring, all of whom were first-time-out winners.
That included several smart prospects, who are likely to add to Doyle’s unmatched roll of honour, Since October 2017, his ex-point-to-pointers have won 81 blacktype races, including nine this season, the most of any handler, with Le Frimeur and Bob Olinger the latest to supply him with Grade 1 glory, following their top-level triumphs at last month’s Punchestown Festival.
In signing off at the peak of his powers, Pat Doyle hands the reins to the next generation at the end of a final season that fittingly reflects his achievements from a lifetime in the sport.
SAM Curling may have had to wait until the final weekend of the season, but the Tipperary handler was able to write his name in the history books when he matched and then surpassed Robert Tyner’s 17-year-old record for the greatest number of winners by a handler in a single season.
The Kinsale trainer had set that record in 2009, and it was fitting that Tyner was on hand in Ballingarry to congratulate Curling on the achievement, as the Tipperary handler ultimately ended the campaign on 49 winners, which also brought him a first title triumph.
Curling’s imprint also features on several other trophies, as his record-breaking campaign has proven to be pivotal in the rider’s titles for Derek O’Connor and Nicole Lockhead Anderson.
O’Connor ended an 11-year wait for an incredible 12th national riders’ title, one of four awards he has secured this season, in just the latest chapter for point-to-pointing’s greatest ever.
Thirteen winners for Lockhead Anderson sees her become champion lady rider with a tally that matches Liz Lalor’s total from 2018 as the joint-highest number of winners in a season for a female rider within the past decade.
The under-21 prize was the other riders’ title that went down to the wire, as Shane Cotter regained his 2024 crown. In doing so, he joins an exclusive list of two-time champions since it became an under-21 prize, which includes Timmy Murphy, Davy Russell, Derek O’Connor, Barry O’Neill and Shane Fitzgerald.
They will all be celebrated at this year’s Point-to-Point Awards, hosted by the Qualified Riders Association, which takes place in Whites Hotel, Wexford, on Saturday, June 13th.
The Irish Field Champion Rider – Derek O’Connor
p2p.ie Champion Lady Rider – Nicole Lockhead Anderson
TRI Equestrian Champion Under-21 Rider – Shane Cotter
Nevilles Whites Hotel Champion Senior – Derek O’Connor
Horse Racing Ireland Northern Champion – Barry O’Neill
Horse Racing Ireland Eastern Champion – Barry O’Neill
Horse Racing Ireland Western Champion – Derek O’Connor
Horse Racing Ireland Southern Champion – Derek O’Connor
Bluegrass Feed Leading Handler – Sam Curling
Tattersalls Ireland Horse of the Year –
Its On The Line*
ITBA Champion Mare – The Great Unknown*
Race Displays Champion Pointer –
Hearts And Spades
Goffs Leading Sire – Walk In The Park
Weatherbys Leading Breeders Award - TBC
Healys Personality Award – Announced June 13th
INHSC Novice Riders Series Leading Rider – Cormac Byrne
INHSC Novice Riders Series Leading Lady Rider – Nicole Lockhead Anderson
* Horse of the Year & Champion Mare award winners will be confirmed following the final hunter chase of the season at Listowel on Monday.