Heavyweight jockeys star at Taunton Vale point-to-point

There’ll be no need for some jockeys to lay off the chocolate eggs this Easter. The Taunton Vale Foxhounds is staging a special race for riders over the usual 12.5st at their point-to-point on Easter Monday at Kingston St Mary.

Organiser Dominic Alers-Hankey explained: “All the ‘heavies’ must be at least 14st. They will have a schooling session before they race and must ride a thoroughbred.”

Riders include master of the Taunton Vale Richard Mitford-Slade, Marcus Chambers, Devon farmer Tom Brown and local builder Greg Day.

“We wanted to encourage people who are not the usual jockey type, and still hunt regularly, to have a go,” Mr Mitford-Slade told H&H.

“I’m built like a rugby player, so have never had the opportunity to race before. I thought ‘if I don’t do it now I never will’. It’s a totally different ball game riding over fences at speed with short stirrups, so I thought I’d give it a crack.”

This article was first published in Horse & Hound (1 April, ’10)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now