Hill looking forward to a busy and exciting season on every front

When it comes to a rounded view of point-to-pointing and hunter chasing it could be said Alan Hill has 360-degree vision.

A talented amateur rider, successful in Foxhunter chases at Cheltenham and Aintree, he took charge of the pointers at his Oxfordshire farm when his wife Lawney gained a trainers' licence. In 2014 he was champion trainer and last season took the leading hunter chase trainers' title.

He sits on the Point-to-Point Authority board as its hunting representative, and 12 months ago began co-piloting a mission to put a first-base novice rider – an Olympic cycling champion no less – into the furnace of the Cheltenham Festival. Victoria Pendleton finished fifth in the Foxhunter Chase.