CHANGE in demand has driven change in behaviour in the industry with buyers wanting horses ready sooner than ever before.

Owners are now hoping to buy a young horse and quickly win a four-year-old point-to-point.

Bumpers were previously the shop window in Ireland for horses; they were the races trainers aimed for before moving their horses on to the next level.

Through bumpers, owners and breeders recognised the potential their horses might have and a bumper success added value to the horse. This is now happening on the point-to-point circuit instead – it is here dreams are boosted or dashed in terms of horse potential.

Bumpers prevent horses contesting in open company earlier in their careers due to the availability of prizes of status, Kevin Blake hinted. Ruby Walsh, a strong advocate of bumpers, felt removing bumpers to ensure horses moved to hurdling and ultimately chasing earlier in their careers was removing a dream from owners.

He believed the idea of removing one layer at which a horse could win could also reduce the interest of the public. Blake stated that Grade 1 status should be removed from all National Hunt flat races as “ … bumpers have run their course.”

The Sky Sports Racing analyst cited the earlier part of Envoi Allen’s career in making the case against bumpers. A winner of a four-year-old point-to-point before he turned four; he competed for a full season in bumpers; completed a season of novice hurdling, followed by a complete season of novice chasing. By the time he finally reached open company, he wasn’t the same horse, Blake argued.

Richard Pugh cited two of National Hunt racing’s greatest mares, Dawn Run and Honeysuckle, to further the point about horses competing in open company at an earlier age.

While today horses could be rising eight-years-old before contesting in open company, having possibly competed in Grade 1s in each of the categories listed above, Dawn Run died at eight having won a Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup at Cheltenham.

Honeysuckle, an eight-year-old, has triumphed in Champion Hurdles at Cheltenham and Punchestown respectively.

Pugh continued to produce informative facts and statistics, among them that Tom Dreaper ran Arkle in two four-year-old bumpers and had him chasing by the age of six; Kauto Star ran as a three-year-old while Desert Orchid competed as a four-year-old.

The RTÉ Racing commentator argued that the real champions of the sport run early in their careers, while the stats he said (without quoting figures) showed that horses that begin their racing careers as four-years-old remain sounder for longer than those who start later.

For Kevin Blake, who is critical of the Grade 1 status afforded to the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival, it is all about “speeding up of the whole process so we get the better horses into open company faster.”

The analyst and breeder added: “We want these horses competing against one another, and against the other generations as fast as possible.”

Blake believes we can learn from the French model, where young National Hunt horses do more jumping at an earlier stage of their careers.