Tinahely goes ahead in the fog but Naas abandoned - the difference between rules and pointing

Despite a thick blanket of fog shrouding the course at Tinahely on Sunday, the fixture was completed on the same afternoon Naas was forced to abandon after one race.

It would be impossible to compare fog at the two venues, but there was no doubt that visibility at Fairwood Park was as poor as it had been at any point-to-point in recent seasons.

What was interesting, however, was that once the stewards and medical teams were confident the entire course could be covered and policed, and riders were happy to race, there was no further cause for doubt.

Point-to-pointing doesn’t have the same regulatory concerns as racing under rules. The betting markets are not liquid enough to encourage anyone to do anything other than their best to win a race, and in the younger maidens the reward to run well is so lucrative that there is no integrity concern.

A head-on camera was still used to monitor whip use and interference, and the fixture proceeded as normal for everyone other than the racegoers, who were unable to follow it.

Although that was disappointing for connections, or anyone who paid to watch, it did seem sensible that connections were able to run and the organising hunt was not out of pocket.

That was testament to those in decision-making roles on Sunday for understanding the differences between racing under rules and point-to-pointing, and taking that decision.

Just 39 runners took to the track at Tinahely as the three post-Christmas fixtures featured smaller fields.

Despite the number of hunter certificates remaining on a par with 2019, what was considerably different was the number of runners at those post-Christmas meetings.

Dromahane four years ago saw 87 starters compared with 51 this year, and the following weekend’s two fixtures produced 83 runners this year compared with the same weekend in 2019 when 105 runners took part.

Anecdotally, there seems to be an increase in the number of trainers who ease their yards down over Christmas, and this has possibly been accentuated by the rule which was introduced in 2022, and fully in place from January 2023, requiring all horses to have a booster vaccination each six months rather than annually.

Moving towards February, we can at least remain confident the horse population is comparable with previous years.

Weekend fixture

Sunday

Aghabullogue, first race 12.30

Turtulla, first race 12.30

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