Fears over insurance impasse lead to massive volume of entries this weekend

Point-to-pointing in Ireland has disappointingly been thrust back into a time of uncertainty with insurance once again proving to be a thorn in the side of so many trainers seeking to plan a late-season campaign for their horses.

Their reaction to the announcement of a weekend reshuffle of fixtures, with Monksgrange cancelled and Fairyhouse and Tralee being staged on Friday afternoon in order to be completed before the clock strikes midnight on a soon-to-be expired insurance policy, was to enter their horses en masse.

Rumours have circulated in recent months of continued insurance issues looming in the background, and the enormous entry for this weekend’s action speaks of fears that the announcement heightened. The four fixtures received a combined entry of 751 horses, with owners and trainers spending a staggering €45,000 in entry fees alone, while Sunday’s fixture at Dromahane received the largest entry for an individual fixture in almost a decade.