THE new season steps up a gear this weekend as the fourth weekend of the season brings the first weekend to feature three fixtures, and this afternoon’s fixture at Loughanmore has also produced the biggest entry of the season.

With 101 entries it is the first fixture of the new season to break the 100 entry mark, mirroring the opening weeks of last season, and encouragingly entry numbers for the first eight fixtures of this season are up slightly on last year, driven in a significant part due to the continued strength of the four-year-old maiden division.