THE Duhallow Kanturk fixture at Dromahane over Christmas marked the first introduction of an interesting condition restricting any horse who had won either a Grade 1, Grade 2 or Grade 3 contest under rules from competing in their open lightweight and the North Tipperary Foxhounds are now set to follow suit.

The ladies open at their fixture at Nenagh next Sunday excludes all graded winners from competing and it will be interesting to see how it is received. The open division has proven to be very competitive this season in depth of quality and quantity of horses, with many fixtures witnessing an increase in the number of entries for their open races in comparison with that same race at their corresponding fixtures last season.