POINT-to-point racing is not solely a conveyor belt of young equine talent, with its importance for young riders equally as important. Rachael Blackmore, Donal McInerney and more recently Sean O’Keeffe are just some of the point-to-point riders to have made an immediate impact with the switch to the track.

As other riders move to the professional ranks or leave for many other reasons, it is vital that they are replaced with new blood continually entering the sport.

FIRST RIDES

This season alone, 35 young riders have had their first rides in a point-to-point, with Jack Cavanagh, Corey McGivern, Shane O’Brien and Oran McGill, the latest quartet to have done so at fixtures within the past fortnight.

Among this season’s 35 newcomers are Eoghan and Ger Wallis, who have had a unique introduction to race-riding within the sport.

The 21-year-old twins were sourced a horse by their uncle Patrick Duggan and have shared the spins on the 10-year-old Noah Webster.

That son of Galileo had been used as a lead horse for younger horses at Joseph O’Brien’s after his track career drew to an end, and he now has a new role, providing the pair with their first competitive rides between the flags.

PONIES

“We had ponies as kids and would have done pony club and hunter trials and then onto hunting with the Mullinavat & District Harriers,” explains Kilmacow native Eoghan Wallis, who like his brother, is in his fourth and final year of studying Agricultural Science at Waterford IT.

“My mother’s family would have bred and owned a few horses down through the years. They had one good horse a few years ago called Say Again that Paul Nolan trained to win a Galway Hurdle, and they would still have the odd horse in training with Michael Butler and then this lad that we have in with Eoin Doyle.

“I had always wanted to get involved in racing and started riding out in Eoin Doyle’s a few years ago when I started in college and Ger started in Joseph (O’Brien’s) around the same time. Then I went down to Henry (de Bromhead’s) on weekends too, and since my uncle Pat put Noah Webster in training with Eoin, Ger has been riding out there a bit too.”

Ger was the first to take the plunge in a novice riders open at Turtulla in mid-November, with Eoghan making his debut a month later in a similar novice rider’s event at Borris House aboard the former two-time winning hurdler.

The pair have since alternated spins on the bay gelding at Dromahane, Tinahely, Tyrella and most recently, at Punchestown last Sunday.

SAFE SPIN

“Our uncle knew that we had wanted to have a go at point-to-points, so he got the horse for us and we just take turns with him, it’s a great bit of fun. He is a great horse to jump and is a real safe spin and it is nice to get a few rides on him as he is a very straightforward ride.

“We would like to go on to Lingstown next month for the banks race, but we’ll have to talk to Eoin (Doyle) about it. The ground would suit him and it would be something different too. Eoin has done a great job with him so far.”

The pair’s story epitomises the opportunities point-to-point racing can afford young riders to get involved with the sport and that fun element is something that many see as crucial to preserving its future.

It has certainly been a positive experience to date for the twin brothers and has lived up to their expectations.

“We would have done a lot of schooling for lads and things like that but it is great craic riding in the point-to-points. It is a bit different as you are going that fraction faster and there are more horses around you, but it has been really enjoyable so far,” added Eoghan who was in the saddle at the Kildare Foxhounds’ fixture on Sunday.

“We both will be finished in college in May and are then both hoping to go into horses full time in May to make a good go at the riding, maybe get a few rides for other people too.”