Prospects for 2007 look very encouraging, was the message from chairman Simon Claisse at the Point-to-Point Owners’ & Riders’ Association AGM at Stratford racecourse.
With changes to the administration of racing coming into force in January 2007, he stressed that the amateur sport has a significant role to play, and that point-to-pointing needed to retain its grass roots links with national hunt racing.
Although there has been a slight decline inthe number of both runners and certificates issued, support in the hunting field has remained strong and 2006 also saw the first four-year-old winner since 1958.
It seems highly likely that the new season will start in December, with one meeting per weekend. The provisional fixtures mooted are at Tweseldown and Cottenham, both of which have brought forward a meeting from January, andthree completely new fixtures in the Devon and Cornwall area.
A working party, under the chairmanship of Richard Russell, has been set up to review the sport, the first such report since 1986. Its remit is to review the development of the sport and to identify and consider its future requirements, with recommendations to be submitted to the Point-to-Point Board by the end of December.
Every aspect will come under scrutiny. Anybody interested in the sport is invited to put forward ideas and opinions to the working party by contacting Lucy Brack at the Point-to-Point Department at Shaftesbury Avenue, e-mail lbrack@thehra.org.
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