Let's hope the loss of Loughrea is a one-off or it will be a tough season ahead

The second weekend of the autumn campaign brought the first setback of the season, the cancellation of the Galway Blazers fixture at Loughrea because of an insurance-related issue.

Loughrea is a popular venue and it was a pity to lose a meeting that usually gets the season in the West off to a lively start.

Unfortunately, insurance issues have created major problems in virtually every sector of the Irish equestrian world over the last couple of years.

There have been times when it seemed as if point-to-pointing faced a serious threat to its continuing existence.

But a lot of good work has been going on behind the scenes and it's fair to say the point-to-point community approached the new season with a sense of optimism that everything had been resolved.

In a recent newspaper interview, Lord Waterford, who is chairman of the Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association and hosts a point-to-point on his Curraghmore Estate near Portlaw in the spring, gave a detailed account of the developments that had taken place.

Most of his remarks were specifically related to hunting but he also spoke generally about the working of the hunt clubs which are involved with point-to-points throughout Ireland.

Although I have to admit a lot of the technical detail about the insurance market was a bit over my head, I know I wasn't the only one who was reassured by what Lord Waterford had to say.

Until the middle of last week all seemed set for the Loughrea fixture to go ahead and instructions had already gone out for the fences to be set up and the course prepared, only for the news of the cancellation to break on Thursday morning.

I understand the issue was the need to have a solicitor on hand to oversee the signing of waivers.

Apparently, no solicitor was available locally. That surprised me since I would have imagined the Blazers would have no shortage of supporters with good contacts in the legal world in Galway city and in the county.

I'm told that the hunt committee received a quote from a Dublin-based office that they felt was too expensive to justify.

With the pressure on hunt finances they had a tough decision to make, but it was disappointing to lose a meeting at such an early stage of the season.

We'll have enough to deal with when ground and weather conditions deteriorate in the depths of winter, so the loss of any fixture is something to regret.

I wouldn't want to make a huge deal of it or start throwing blame around, but let's hope it was just a one-off and not something that is going to occur regularly. Otherwise, it's going to be a challenging season, and disappointing for supporters who look forward to the day out and the all-round entertainment so many of the hunt committees offer.

It's good to hear that no problems are anticipated at Portrush and Tinahely at the weekend.

Brain Power makes fine start to the season

After a smart performance from Gordon Eliottt's Hardline at Castletown-Geoghegan on the opening weekend of the season, another high-class former track performer, Brain Power, impressed in winning the open at Moira on Saturday.

Dara McGill: won on Brain Power, beating brother Oran into secondCredit: Healy Racing

Runner-up to Hardline six days earlier, last year's most successful pointer, Some Man, was again sent off the odds-on favourite under Oran McGill.

In a showdown between the McGill brothers, it was the younger Dara, riding Brain Power for Warren Ewing, who got the better of Oran's mount with a stylish win.

A winner of the International Hurdle at Cheltenham and of the Grand National Hurdle at Far Hills in America, Brain Power failed to score in three starts during last season's autumn campaign but got one on the board at Tyrella in January before having a break.

The Kalanisi gelding will turn 12 in a few months' time, but there's plenty of life left in him.

Leading northern owner Wilson Dennison had a double on the card, taking the four-year-old maiden with the French-bred Tullyhill, trained by Colin McKeever, and also scoring with the six-year-old Gorthill, trained by his daughter Caroline McCaldin.

Colin Bowe, who saddled the runner-up in both races, kept up his good start to the season by landing the five-year-old maiden with the Barry O'Neill-ridden Guillaume, a Yeats gelding whose dam Theleze won a maiden hurdle for Willie Mullins.

Mustameet Secret won the mares' maiden for Meath trainer Hugh Finegan, providing a first winner for his nephew Eoghan.

This is a story of continuing family success since the home-bred Mustameet Secret, who ran over hurdles on the track during the summer, is out of the Finegans' mare Never A Secret, who was also home-bred and won a bumper and two races over hurdles.

It's always nice to see mares like this delivering for a family like the Finegans.