HRI figures read well but pointing cessation makes for a significant caveat

The recent publication of the Horse Racing Ireland statistics for last year looks most encouraging at face value.

Figures indicating a 14.4 per cent increase in the number of horses in training as compared with the previous year alongside the number of owners increasing by 20.1 per cent in the same period can only be a positive in any year, but, given the challenges that prevailed, they are even more impressive.

However, statistics can be misleading if not interrogated properly and the one item that is not included in those figures is the point-to-point influence.