A TOTAL of 78 fixtures have been scheduled for the upcoming spring point-to-point season, which is due to start on Thursday, December 30th and conclude five months later on Sunday, May 29th.

Broadly the fixture list falls in line with previous years, the 2022 total is on par with the 78 fixtures which had been scheduled for spring 2021 and is down just two on the planned programme for the previous year.

The calendar is, however, missing two hunt committees from the midlands – the South Westmeath’s spring fixture at The Pigeons and the two-day meeting at Durrow in Offaly which has been home to the Brosna Foxhounds fixture since 2002.

The South Westmeaths have made the successful switch to an annual autumn meet at their new venue in Umma House, while the Brosna committee secretary Colm O’Brennan has confirmed that they have opted out of running this year due to the difficulties the hunt has faced with hunting insurance.

Encouragingly, they are set to make an imminent return to the hunting fields.

Total number

Their absence on the season’s total number of fixtures is offset by the East Down’s returning to their traditional compliment of two dates in 2022, the December 30th fixture at Dromahane being classed in the spring season and the return of the Carbery Foxhounds Clonakilty fixture at Inchydoney.

It was missing from last year’s calendar, but is also back on this year’s list and is scheduled for Sunday, May 22nd, which is now the penultimate weekend of the season.

One week later the season will come to a close at Kinsale and Tralee in a slightly new-look end to the campaign as Ballingarry remains on the weekend of May 21st and 22nd which they occupied earlier this year.

The spring term is also set to witness the introduction of two brand new courses. The Scarteen Foxhounds had been due to hold their first fixture at Comea last season before the spring campaign was brought to a halt in January.

The right-handed course, which is located just across the road from their former venue at Kilfeacle, will see its first competitive action on February 13th, as the Scarteens and Stonehall Cragmore committee’s swap dates.

Popular

The ultra-popular Easter fixture at Inch will also have a new home in 2022 at Ballyknock. It will also be a right-handed track which is all contained within the one field and located just two miles from their former course which had hosted the Inch point-to-point for over a quarter of century.

Following the announcement of the spring list of fixtures, Martin O’Donnell, Senior Steward of the INHSC, commented: “The Stewards are conscious of the work involved in running a point-to-point and the difficulties hunt committees face at this time.

“There are particular issues with insurance and we note that many hunt committees included in the fixture list have not been able to host their traditional fixture since the spring of 2019.

“The resilience of these hunt committees over the past few years should not be underestimated by the industry.”

Ladies’ opens welcome additions

THIS Sunday’s fixture at Ballycrystal will feature the first ladies’ open of the season, with the race at the Co. Wexford venue a very welcome addition to the programme of races for the category which has been one of the hardest hit by the Covid interruptions of the past two years.

With the majority of the ladies’ opens taking place during the spring term, the loss of so much racing both earlier this year and in spring 2020, has resulted in just six ladies’ open races having been held in the past two years – a notable drop by any barometer.

The addition of this race at the Island hunt’s fixture will feature as one of four such races in the autumn term in the category with further races to follow at Quakerstown, Moig South and Mainstown in the coming weeks.

In spite of the reduced opportunities due to Covid, there has certainly been an upswing in the number of female riders taking to the track in point-to-points.

Across the opening five weeks of this season, 10 riders have made their pointing debuts, four of whom have been female including Hannah Phillips, whose illustrious parents Lucy Townsley and Michael Phillips are former champion riders in the pointing fields.

In 1995, when Townsley was crowned champion lady rider, Phillips took the regional title in the south. This new quartet follow on from the 14 female riders who made their pointing debuts last season.

In all, some 41 female amateur riders who have ridden at least once in a point-to-point held a licence at the start of this week.

However this falls short of the figures for British point-to-points where 40% of their riders are female, a figure they were able to publicise when announcing the intention to include more ladies winners’ races for the coming season in an effort to provide opportunities for those riders who may not have access to quality open horses.

With the provisional summary currently being compiled for the spring point-to-point season, it could be a further positive step to see a similar race trialled here.

BALLYNOE is one of the spring fixtures that has been unable to take place since 2019 due to the interruptions that Covid has inflicted on the last two spring campaigns, however the fixture’s scheduled date on Sunday, March 27th next year will mark the return of the lucrative Gain Series Final.

A €3,000 bonus will once again be up for grabs courtesy of Gain Equine Nutrition and the Ballynoe committee, with a half-tonne of feed being presented the placed finishers in the final of the series which is set to commence next weekend.

Joanne Hurley, Irish Country Manager, Gain Equine Nutrition, commented: “It’s a fantastic series that we are delighted to be a part of for the past four decades. It is a great opportunity for us to support the grassroots of the National Hunt industry. It’s great for us to be able to lend our support to this industry through this initiative.”