A NEW season of point-to-point action sprang into life at Toomebridge last Saturday, swiftly followed by the Westmeath Foxhounds card in Castletown-Geoghegan.

Those season-opening fixtures feature as part of 30 fixtures which have been programmed across the 11 weekends of racing that make up the pre-Christmas term, and while this does mark a reduction from the past two enhanced autumn seasons from 2020 and 2021, it is a return to the traditional autumn campaign that had predated the arrival of Covid-19.

In the years preceding the pandemic, the annual October bank holiday fixture in Dowth Hall had been the undoubted centerpiece of the autumn season in the five years that it ran from its inaugural edition in 2015, drawing up to 6,000 people annually to the Co Meath venue on the banks of the River Boyne.

Covid-19 restrictions over the past two years saw the Meath & Tara committee’s fixture return to Tattersalls, and that course at the rear of the sales complex is again scheduled to host their October 30 fixture for this year.

Blow to attendances

The absence of Dowth Hall from the autumn calendar is a blow for the sport’s efforts to focus on improving attendances following the Covid-19 restrictions, with the fixture providing a shop window like few other.

The autumn programme of races will continue to feature a number of older maiden races with a bonus prize fund which has been boosted courtesy of the INHSC, beginning today with the Iveagh Foxhounds fixture at Moira.

A bonus of €1,500 has been added to the six-year-old and upwards maiden on this afternoon’s card, alongside similar older maiden races in Lisronagh on Saturday November 5th, and Borris House on December 11th.

Meanwhile, the Golden Vale Foxhounds fixture at Turtulla on Sunday November 20th will once again feature a race which is confined to point-to-point handlers who held a permit during the 2021/22 season and have not trained more than 10 winners under any rules of racing, including point-to-pointing.

Introduced last season when the Turtulla race was won by Garry Aherne’s Your Own Story, the races confined to smaller trainers have since been replicated under rules.

No Kinsale June bank holiday again

THE closing weeks of last season were dominated by the controversial decision by the stewards of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee to finish the season within the month of May.

The consequence of which left the South Union Hunt unable to run their traditional end of season fixture on the June Bank Holiday weekend, and as a result last season’s two-day marquee fixture in Kinsale was cancelled.

Explaining the thinking behind the stewards’ decision, a spokesperson for the INHSC had told The Irish Field earlier this year: “The stewards decided last autumn that the totality of the season was too long and that it should finish at the end of May. The issue can be raised again at the end-of-season review but you cannot stretch the season beyond its capabilities.”

Despite a total of 200 entries being received for what became the final fixture of last season in Tralee – the second largest of the entire campaign - proving to counter that argument, and a strong representation being made by a number of industry participants at that end-of-season review in the offices of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, the stewards of the INHSC have re-affirmed their initial decision for this season.

They have modified the regulations for point-to-point steeplechases to read: ‘No Point-to-Point meeting shall be held before the first day in October or after the last day in May,’ ruling out the possibility of the South Union committee getting to return to their long-standing traditional date on the June Bank Holiday weekend going forward.

Updates

That features in a number of updates to the point-to-point rule book, with other amendments including the limit on the number of horses that are permitted to run in novice rider races being reduced to 17, updates to the whip rules, and a specific requirement for handlers and riders to remain at a fixture for 10 minutes after the ‘winner all right’ announcement has been made.

Handlers will also not be able to declare a horse if the vaccinations against Equine Influenza are not in order at the time of entries closing, but will still be charged the entry fee, while they will also no longer be permitted to use vetwrap for tongue straps with a tightening of the materials being allowed for this purpose.

Notably for hunt committees, post-race schooling on a race day is prohibited. In the years preceding the Covid-19 pandemic schooling after racing had become a significant source of revenue for hunt committees, and although committees can run schooling in the days following a fixture, this will come with additional costs.

LAST Sunday’s initial open lightweight of the season may have produced just four runners in Castletown-Geoghegan, however it looked to have been a case of quality over quantity with the assembled quartet serving up a particularly satisfying race.

Hardline (109+) was aided by a series of jumps on the final circuit befitting a former Grade 1 winner that is accustomed to tackling his fences at pace, as he took lengths out of the reigning champion point-to-pointer Some Man throughout the final six furlongs or so which put him in pole position to return to the number one spot on his return to the pointing fields.

Traditionally this race, produces a number of the season’s leading open performers and that looks to be the case again, as all four will be expected to win races of their own.

Rock My Way (90+) cemented victory when quicker over the final fence, whilst Hills Of Glory (85+) deservedly opened his account after a number of eye-catching efforts in defeat last spring.

Twenty-four hours earlier, previous experience once again appeared to be a big advantage around the test that Toomebridge presents. Sheeka Supreme (79+) certainly fit that bill as not only did she jump slickly throughout, but she also cornered best on the downhill bend into the straight to seal victory.

She looks a sharp sort for the track, whilst Waspy (89+) was likely value for greater than the winning margin of a head in a race having steadied at the last.