'There's value to be had but the buying budget has gone up' - quality and competitiveness on the rise in point-to-pointing

Winning a point-to-point is easy – said nobody, ever.

In recent weeks the likes of Saint Calvados, Summerville Boy and My Drogo have graced the winner’s enclosure in point-to-points, all of them Grade 1 performers when racing under rules. Their route into the sport is clear, but how do trainers without access to proven high-class horses go about trying to win races?

Alan Hill, the top point-to-point handler based in Oxfordshire, explains his methods when buying horses: “I like to buy a maiden off the track with a handicap mark of 90 or above with the hope they can go through the grades and win at the top level in pointing and hunter chasing. Something with a bit of form that has been placed or shown some ability is what we look for. These sorts have learned their job, seen white rails and had some life experience. They just need something different.

“There's value to be had if you look around, but the buying budget used to be £5,000 to £7,000, whereas now you need £12,000-plus at least. In recent years I've been underbidder on a few good ones, so we're still on the right track.”

This is a buying model that has been working for Hill for years, with the likes of Start Royal, Hawkhurst, Bon Accord, Broken Eagle and Sharp Suit just a few of the success stories.

Hill adds: “When Cottenham was still open, we used to start them there quite often. It was a sharp, flat, right-handed course and was an easy option for a two-and-a-half-mile ex-hurdler. I concluded that James Tudor, who in my opinion was the best point-to-point jockey we have ever seen, and Cottenham meant ‘bingo’. There have also been some disasters – they're not all racehorses. Winning a point-to-point isn't easy.”

The hope for buyers like Hill is that some horses perform better for competing in the grassroots sport. There is no magic trick as to why this might happen in some cases, although Polly Gundry, now a jumps trainer and previously a top point-to-point rider, has some theories.

“We used to try to source horses from the track hoping we could rejuvenate them and gain their confidence and make them winners,” she says. “Some horses just need more time. The pace of a point-to-point can be slower than under rules, allowing them to get into a rhythm. All horses are different. Some horses loved having me on as opposed to a lad. I could allow a horse to think it was running away with me, they loved that and it gave them confidence.”

However, Gundry does warn that it’s becoming tougher to find success via this route.

“Back in the day we had some funny but wonderful little tracks where you could win races on moderate horses,” she adds. “These tracks are diminishing now and it is becoming increasingly hard to win with ordinary horses.”

Palypso De Creek and Claire Hart winning at Whitfield in 2011Credit: David Dew

A change of scenery, a different regime and smaller yard are three regular reasons cited for a horse improving in point-to-point. During my career I was lucky enough to be associated with Palypso De Creek, once rated 140, who fell in the 2010 Grand National and lost his confidence. A winter doing fun rides and bloodhounding helped him to regain it and he went on to win 24 point-to-points and hunter chases.

That said, another ride of mine was the prolific Dabinett Moon, who went through the grades pointing, winning 17 of them plus two hunter chases. She was an out-and-out pointer, bred, owned and trained by Fran and Christopher Marriott in Oxfordshire, which shows there are high-quality horses in the sport from a range of backgrounds. 

Yorkshire-based Jacqueline Scutt (nee Coward) now holds a dual licence but rode as a successful amateur under both codes and was national women’s champion in the 2012-13 campaign. She remains very involved in point-to-point and is well aware of the difficulty in finding horses of sufficient quality from under rules.

“We had loads of decent ex-rules horses over the years and they were all different. Lord Daresbury bought many from under rules for his sons to ride.

“Sonevafushi was a funny character, nasty in the stable, but ours live in barns in a herd and he got friendlier and won us lots of races. Amicelli was another favourite. He had been good under rules and then he won a Foxhunter. I bought him for myself to ride after I had a head injury and he won loads of ladies’ races and a hunter chase. He just loved the way we did things.

“But the sport is becoming increasingly competitive and winners are hard to come by. If I'm looking for a top horse, I need it to be a 130-rated horse. A winner under rules but only rated 100 is no good.”

Scutt’s assessment of the ratings trainers need to look out for tallies with Hill’s evidence of the higher prices needed to buy the right kind of horse and Gundry’s experience of the difficulty in winning races with ordinary horses. It all demonstrates the increasingly competitive and high-quality nature of the point-to-point scene.

No wonder you won’t hear anyone saying that winning a point-to-point is easy.

Weekend fixtures

Sunday
Buckfastleigh, Devon, TQ11 0LT. 12.00, 6 races, 97 entries.
Duncombe Park, Yorkshire, YO62 5EB. 12.00, 7 races, 103 entries.
Horseheath, Cambridgeshire, CB9 7LG. 12.00, 6 races, 51 entries.
Larkhill, Wiltshire, SP4 8QR. First race 12.45, 6 races. 58 entries.

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