WHEN the tapes go back on the 2018/19 point-to-point season at 1pm this afternoon, hopes will be high that we could be in for one of the strongest autumn campaigns in recent years.

Ever since its introduction in 2001, to combat the losses occurred by all within the sport from that year’s Foot and Mouth disease crisis, the autumn campaign has quickly established itself as a core element of the whole season, producing not only a good quantity of runners, but also the quality to match it.

Heading into this 18th autumn campaign, the headline story is undoubtedly the strength of the early hunter certificate numbers. In the opening three weeks of hunter certificate registrations alone, 409 horses have already been issued with certificates and were eligible to be entered in this opening weekend’s racing.

That figure represents a 21% increase on the same point 12 months ago, and this is in a large part due to, in contrast to recent years, an unprecedented number of hunter certificates being registered in the one week.

Last week, the IHRB issued no fewer than 250 hunter certificates, the biggest single week of certificates in five years, dating back to September 2013. Even more notably, there have only been three bigger individual weeks for hunter certificate registrations in the past nine years.

Those significant increases go some way to highlighting just how many people were affected by the weather-interrupted campaign which was endured last season, and how many horses were held up by it.

YOUNGER HORSES

Younger age horses continue to be the source of much of the growth, with an additional 70 four-year-olds having already been issued with a hunter certificate compared with the opening three weeks for the 2017/18 season. The number of five-year-olds has also jumped notably, rising by some 35%.

Encouragingly, the biggest increase has been among mares. The total number of mares is up by over 60%, once again driven by the growth of four-year-olds, with close to double the number of four-year-old mares holding a hunter certificate compared to last year.

Those hunt committees due to stage fixtures in the coming weeks and months should certainly be buoyed by the figures, which have already translated into increased entry numbers for this weekend’s two fixtures.

Today’s Toomebridge meeting is up 35% on what is its biggest autumn entry in five years and the entry at Castletown-Geoghegan has jumped 40% on their entry for the same fixture in each of the last three seasons.

AUTUMN SEASON

A total of 27 fixtures are due to take place from today until the end of the autumn campaign on Sunday December 9th, following the cancellation of both the Suivale fixture at Knockinroe and unfortunately for the second year in succession, the Co Roscommon meeting at Rockfield.

The South Westmeaths are the only hunt who lost a spring date due to the weather horrors who have elected to reschedule into the autumn.

Their first ever date in the pre-Christmas campaign of October 21st will see them celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first point-to-point which they ran at The Pigeons in 1978.

November remains the busiest month with a total of 12 fixtures, including the start of the Cork and Waterford season at Dromahane on November 11th. Having returned to the fixture list for the first time in 20 years last November, the Wicklows remain in the calendar at Tinahely a week later on November 18th.

The autumn season will finish on a particularly busy note, with a trio of back-to-back triple header Sundays set to bring it to a close on December 9th.

That final day of the season will once again see three four-year-old mares’ maidens taking place on the same afternoon, a clash that was highlighted by handlers 12 months ago at the handlers’ association meeting.

They will however take some positives from the fact that the slightly increased programme for four-year-old mares will feature just four blank weekends for them, in comparison with last season’s programme where five of the eight scheduled races in this category were planned to take place on the final three racedays of the autumn.

RULE CHANGE

Just one notable rule change comes into effect with the start of the new season this weekend, and that relates to novice rider races, a topic on which there are many differing opinions throughout the sport.

To date, these races had been restricted to riders who had not ridden more than 10 winners, be that in point-to-points, or under rules on the track.

Tomorrow’s open lightweight at Castletown-Geoghegan will be the first novice rider race of the season, and in order to ride in the race, and all other novice races this season, a rider many now have won up to 15 races.

This will allow riders a further five victories before they become ineligible for the races and will result in a handful of riders becoming eligible for these races once again.

The authorities will be hoping that the increase will not only provide young riders with a greater number of opportunities over a longer period of time, allowing them to further establish themselves before becoming ineligible for the races, but to also include slightly more experienced riders in the races.

In total, 15 of the 27 fixtures this autumn will feature a race solely for novice riders. In a notable move away from scheduling the races as an older maiden, nine of the novice rider races are set to be run as open lightweights.

Castletown-Geoghegan, Grennan and Ballinaboola all make the move to switch their novice race from the older maiden on their card to the open lightweight, with The Pigeons set to introduce a novice race to their fixture.

There are discussions currently taking place in relation to a number of other changes which may come into effect in the spring.

HANDLERS’ MEETING

THOSE changes will likely be among a number of topics discussed when the Irish Point-to-Point Handlers Association hold their annual meeting at the Horse & Jockey Hotel, this coming Wednesday, October 10th.

Starting at 8pm, the evening will provide handlers with the opportunity to address pertinent issues, as was the case at last year’s meeting where the topics discussed ranged from race planning and funding, to opening hunter chases and point-to-point bumpers up to point-to-point handlers, among others.

Those with any proposals or suggestions in the interest of point-to-points will be dealt with on the night.

To allow an agenda to be formulated, the organisers ask that all proposals or suggestions are made in advance to either

Gerry Kelleher (087-2750960), Eugene O’Sullivan (086-2541398), or Frankie Ward (087-6722745).