THE point-to-point circuit is the ultimate filter for jumping talent.

If a trainer has a wealthy owner willing to pay a large sum of money for a point-to-pointer, they increase their chances of finding a good horse.

A small trainer can have a point-to-point horse worth up to €500,000, a price that isn’t uncommon now but was unimaginable a decade ago. It’s an evolving game that has become more of a business, meaning the fun element has disappeared somewhat.

A question from the audience asking if point-to-points should have a maximum distance of two miles was quickly rebuked by p2p.ie founder and owner Richard Pugh who believes they should have a minimum distance of three miles.

According to the point-to-point expert the statistics for two-and-a-half mile races are “shocking” in terms of the way the races are run and the amount of fallers they have.

Many of the tracks are too tight and the starting point doesn’t often suit. Most tracks are made out for three miles, while our jockeys normally ride at three-mile pace, said Pugh, who stressed that adding a two-and-a-half mile race would not be a positive.

Three miles helps a jockey educate a horse. It assists a horse in learning to settle by being taken out the back of the race at first, if needs be. The young horse can be later brought back into contention and asked to quicken in order to give him a proper education.

Point-to-points just can’t be a selling ground for horses; they have a job, i.e. to teach the horse and help him advance.

A suggestion was made that four-year-old point-to-points being run on the track might be an opportunity to showcase the points to a wider audience.

Pugh was concerned that only these contests would then be the key races for selling pointers, in contrast to the current situation where you could see and purchase a good quality horse at just about any point-to-point in the country.

Moving races to the track could also damage the point-to-point infrastructure, possibly leading to many hunt clubs folding, never to return.

A few years ago a similar idea was trialled at Leopardstown where young horses ran on the Dublin track. The fences were a little too stiff for them and the experience a little daunting, Pugh suggested, adding that the point-to-point fence was a better starting and training ground for these horses. “I want to see horses jumping fences that they are ready for,” he said.

While not suggesting moving all point-to-point races to the track, Kevin Blake suggested that it would help showcase the sport, something Pugh also disputed.

He spoke of his disappointment that point-to-pointing is no longer an easy step in racing. It was previously the first step into the sport, the place where the lifelong amateur could ride against someone who could become a top-class jockey one day – something not possible in most other sports.

For younger people it is now more attractive to go eventing or show jumping than race between the flags.