THE Cork and Waterford point-to-point committees do excellent work in keeping people informed through their Facebook pages but one very busy individual is the Bandon mascot and icon Hamish McTevish who could pop up anywhere! The page is administered by three lady members of the committee who decided to leave Hamish out of the sun-drenched photograph of the point-to-point course on Wednesday opting instead to use that of six-year-old Ross O’Driscoll on one of the fences.

Ross, who is the youngest of four children of meeting secretary Catherine O’Driscoll (nee O’Donovan) and husband Brian, goes racing every weekend and is very much an expert on form and bridle cleaning. Both he and his mother are hoping that the sun stays out for tomorrow’s Carbery Foxhounds’ meeting, the only point-to-point in the country this Sunday.

COMPETITIVE RACING

“The forecast is good anyway,” stated Catherine on Thursday. “We should have competitive racing with all the top riders set to appear. Our clerk of the course and committee chairman, Paddy McCarthy, and his team, has the track in top order. Hopefully we will have a good crowd as last year people stayed away following a morning of hailstones the size of golf balls!”

The adjacent hunts’ race at Bandon has attracted 10 entries including the once previously-raced Rodeo Dodo who runs in the colours of his breeder, landowner Pat O’Driscoll. This contest is always hard-fought as is the opener at today’s Tynan & Armagh fixture Farmacaffley, one of the last-remaining confined hunt races in the country.

Meeting secretary Brian Dougan owns two of the six entries as does Michael McConville who will be on board one of two geldings trained by his father Stephen. An interesting entry is the Marshall Watson-trained Celtic Thunder who runs in the colours of the Supersonic Partnership whose Thebarrowman made all to land the bumper at Fairyhouse last Saturday. The final horse entered is the John Woods-trained newcomer Dale Boy, a son of Erewhon.