Great to have fixtures back this weekend but it is only a short-term fix

A total of 111 days after Dromahane staged the final point-to-point fixture of the autumn campaign on December 20, the season belatedly resumes just 5km north of that venue at Cork Racecourse on Saturday. Let's hope it is the start of a full-scale return in the coming weeks.

Only four- and five-year-olds are permitted to race at these opening racecourse-based fixtures. However, there is optimism that, should they pass off successfully, older horses will soon follow. With a bit of luck, there is a chance the sport could return to its rightful home in the fields up and down the country by May.

There is a history of point-to-points taking place at both weekend venues with Tipperary staging a fixture on Sunday. In the case of Cork, it was the Muskerry committee which previously hosted racing there in 1995 and 1998, where, topically for this week, Monty’s Pass was victorious in the winners' of one at the last of those fixtures.