THE Duhallow Kanturk fixture at Dromahane over Christmas marked the first introduction of an interesting condition restricting any horse who had won either a Grade 1, Grade 2 or Grade 3 contest under rules from competing in their open lightweight and the North Tipperary Foxhounds are now set to follow suit.

The ladies open at their fixture at Nenagh next Sunday excludes all graded winners from competing and it will be interesting to see how it is received. The open division has proven to be very competitive this season in depth of quality and quantity of horses, with many fixtures witnessing an increase in the number of entries for their open races in comparison with that same race at their corresponding fixtures last season.

There can be no doubting the draw that the possibility of witnessing the likes of On His Own, Sir Des Champs, First Lieutenant and co competing at a local point-to-point has for generating a genuine buzz on course.

It was also the case that it was the notable entries which Killeagh received for their open last Sunday, which they promoted across social media to much attention in the days preceding the event, as was the case with Aghabullouge a week earlier, which drew the crowds.

However, that must be tempered by providing ample opportunities for the traditional open pointer to remain competitive, which is why a structure is required to these races through the National Hunt Provisional Summary ensuring that connections who may be looking to avoid the classier former track performer, have a clear programme of races to follow through the season.