COMPETITION is at the centre of all sport and, within the point-to-point arena, this season is arguably proving to be one of the most diverse in terms of the spread of both riders and handlers who have been featuring in the winner’s enclosure across the country.

In previous seasons, point-to-pointing has not differed significantly from other racing codes, with a handful of larger operations and those connected to them tending to dominate. However, the results of the current campaign suggest that a different narrative is playing out this time around.

For example, in the handler ranks, Sam Curling has been a new name at the summit of the handlers’ standings, and his merry dance through the autumn term has proven to be one of the stories of the season thus far, and it shows no sign of abating.

The Tipperary handler added a 17th win of the campaign with his only runner on the Tinahely card last Saturday, whilst of his seven runners across the weekend, all bar one were placed, with no fewer than four of them having to fill the runner-up spot.

However, he is proving to be the exception, blazing that trail at the top of the handlers’ leaderboard, and the only one to break into double figures, because so far in the 2025/26 campaign, the leading handlers have had a significantly looser stranglehold on the season’s prizes.

Wide spread

Currently, the top six handlers have won 47 races between them. Compare that with the corresponding point 12 months ago, and you see that the leading handlers had already accumulated 65 race victories, marking a notable drop this season.

Encouragingly for their colleagues in the training ranks, no fewer than 89 different handlers have already saddled winners at the 30 fixtures staged so far this season, and it is a similar story within the riding division too.

Barry O’Neill remains the leading rider, with a Turtulla double on Sunday bringing his tally for the campaign to 15. However, this season, the top six riders have only won a combined 56 races between them, compared to 78 at this point last season.

As a result, 69 different riders have partnered at least one winner in the current campaign, an increase on the 2024/25 campaign, whilst 17-year-old Billy Aherne became the 10th rider to register a very first point-to-point success here at Ballindenisk on Saturday, a figure that is also up notably this season.

Those are all certainly very encouraging metrics as to the state of play in both the riding and training ranks at this point of the season, with opportunities for success proving to be plentiful. As we head into the peak months of the season from February onwards, it will be interesting to see if that is indeed a trend that is maintained until the season’s end.

THE autumn four-year-old campaign is barely in the rear-view mirror, but it is already proving to be a rich source of bumper winners, with Diamant Dore becoming the latest eye-catching recruit to swiftly translate its point form to the racecourse.

The French-bred recorded an emphatic 17-length success in the Ayr bumper on Tuesday afternoon on what was his first outing for Adrian Keatley.

The Martinborough gelding had been purchased by the North Yorkshire-based Irishman, alongside owner Garry Wilson and bloodstock agent Dan Astbury, for £125,000 at the Goffs UK Sale in Newbury at the end of November.

That was after falling at the final fence of a four-year-old maiden at Kirkistown just a week prior to his sales appearance, when running for the Ger Quinn and Philip McBurney team, and he is already now the fourth bumper winner to have emerged from the four-year-old pre-Christmas division this season.

Something special

In some cases, these bumper victories have been recorded just a matter of weeks after their point-to-point efforts. That was certainly the case with Nimba. The quirky Muhtathir gelding narrowly landed one of the opening four-year-old maidens of the current season at Loughrea for Pat Doyle, and it wasn’t long before he easily claimed a Catterick bumper, after which his new trainer Mickey Bowen said that ‘he could be very special’ in the years to come.

Ticktok Casey had finished third in the four-year-old mares’ maiden on that same Loughrea card in mid-October for Paul Pierce, and she has since won a Naas bumper for Peter Fahey last month, whilst The Mourne Rambler already features in the Champion Bumper ante-post market following his Leopardstown success at Christmas for Noel Meade, having finished second in his four-year-old maiden at Portrush in October for Paddy Turley.

These initial results certainly provide an early endorsement as to the quality of racing which took place in that division throughout the latest autumn term, as the conveyor belt of young proven point-to-pointers progressing to the track continues at a rapid rate.

Those successes have contributed to sizeable returns on the track for point-to-point graduates in recent months. Notably, for just the second time ever, ex-point-to-pointers won over 200 races in consecutive months in November and December, a fact which has to bode well for the months to come.

THE addition of two rescheduled fixtures created a bumper weekend of action for this time of the year, with four fixtures taking place between the flags, and it was a pair of five-year-olds from Tom Keating’s stable that came to the fore across both days.

On Saturday, Boundfornowhere (91+) took a big step forward from his Curraghmore debut nine months earlier by winning as he pleased in Ballindenisk. His rider was clearly confident in the horse that he had beneath him, as Adam Feeney sent the Yeats gelding on heading into the home bend in a decisive move and, from there, he swiftly had his rivals under pressure, never needing more than hands and heels encouragement to win by eight lengths.

Visually, it was a taking display in a race that featured seven newcomers, and it was backed up by the clock.

The winning margin was even greater for Keating’s Aghabullogue victor, Border Lad (90++), who mastered the tough conditions like few others on the card. He was always to the fore in this contest, and simply kept galloping as his rivals began to cry enough.

At Turtulla, Game Theatre (90+) showed a great attitude as he outstayed the favourite to win going away, as the pair left a previously proven rival well adrift in third, whilst at Tinahely, Dream On Mick (88+) relished the stiff home straight.

Having been well produced from off the pace, he found plenty for pressure in a strongly-run contest, where seven of the 13 starters ended up pulling up, as the test took its toll. He would appear to be a strong stayer, going forward.