SINCE the start of the season last autumn, we have seen four new venues hold racing for the very first time.

While the two that featured before Christmas drew justified criticism of some aspects of their facilities it must be said that both Moig South and Stowlin Manor more recently proved very popular with those who attended them.

We tend to take for granted that our regular venues will feature year after year and not to appreciate how lucky we are that so many of them do just that.

It is in fact quite surprising to realise how many courses have been raced on for more than 40 years and in most of these cases it is largely due to the generosity of private landowners - admittedly many of these deeply committed to their local hunts.

However, it is not easy for a hunt to find a new venue if a landowner finds it more commercially reasoned to use his fields differently. This year we have seen the Dungarvan Farmers make the best of continuing to race at Killosera with what was largely a completely new line.

The historic track at Lismore hosted racing for the final time in March though a new track on another part of the Castle Estate will host next year’s meeting.

In a reversal of the trend, happily racing will return to Tallanstown after a three year absence, albeit for a different organising hunt.

CHANGE OF VENUE

However, since Christmas, five meetings that were arranged with venues that had previously seen racing, have had to use a change of venue. All of them going to a venue which had already or subsequently been due to hold a meeting for another hunt.

It is good to know that even in a year like this with difficult ground conditions there are landowners willing to make their land available for a second time.

In Britain, many tracks receive multiple meetings frequently from different hunts whereas in Ireland this has been largely not the case. Until this year only Dramahane has matched this British pattern even though both Tinahely and Boulta hosted meetings for two different committees.

However, for one reason or another this season has seen something of a change. Dramahane will host six meetings if the remainder of the calendar goes ahead.

Tinahely will have hosted four days racing for three different hunts as will Loughanmore although their fixtures include one two-day meeting. What were three separate Limerick meetings (Bruff, Kilmallock and Athlacca) all will take place at Rathcannon while Borris House will add the Kilkenny meeting to their two Carlow Farmers fixtures; Kirkistown see three North Down meetings.

In addition to five more venues hosting two day meetings, another 11 race twice while both Loughbrickland and Ballyarthur would been used twice but for falling foul to ground conditions.

VARIETY

With around 50 courses previously scheduled to host racing when the original programmes for the season were published, there is still plenty of variety available but things should not be taken for granted.

Very few hunts own, or part own, their tracks while others work hard in hand with other equestrian or agricultural showing venues.

This however, is not a guarantee that a meeting will go ahead, as occurred when Fairyhouse pulled the plug on the Meath/Tara meeting when a previously postponed track meeting resulted in an extra days track racing, just prior to the point-to-point.

The hunts held separate meetings in “field” venues; while their autumn celebration at Dowth Hall is already established as a “must visit” meeting, it is a pity they can’t do something similar in the spring.

All in all, one has to give a big sense of gratitude to all the clerks of course and their teams who contribute much more than many credit them.

Maidens make up the numbers

WHILE I personally abhor any meeting that consists of all six races being for maidens, it does seem that this is a rather necessary part of the modern structure of point-to-pointing. Indeed, this six maiden race card is not now that unusual and the five maiden race programme is as often the norm as not.

What is does highlight is that owners and handlers no longer see the natural progression though the grades to open race class and then hunter chasing as a method to be followed.

As a result, the numbers of horses contesting winners and open races has markedly fallen over the last few years and although I have not actually gone through the figures, I would suggest that no meeting which has stages both a winners’ race and an open race on the same card would have had to divide the resulting race had the two fields been combined this season, remember the safety limit is rarely 22 for a winners’ race.

Even with an improvement in the going at a number of recent meetings, this has not led to any rise in the fields for open races. In fact in many cases they have been very disappointing despite the fact that it is now easier for horses that have recently run under rules to become eligible for races between the flags.

Punchestown field disappoints

WITH only 13 runners, the Punchestown Champion Hunters’ Chase had a very poor turnout for what in hunt racing is a very substantial prize. What is more, three of the runners came from Britain so the domestic representation was only 10.

It should be noted however, that these three British runners were all horses which had come back from running on the track, dare I say, to seek easier opportunities. Indeed between these three and the home trained favourite Uxizandre, they could only muster four hunter chase and one point-to-point run this season.

Thank goodness for the admirable veteran On The Fringe and the youngest horse in the field Timewaitsfornoone which actually finished third and second respectively, which both started in maiden races and have continued up the ladder. Let us hope that there are more young horses to follow in their footsteps.