My one wish for next season: to see a deeper pool of young riders given the chance to make a name for themselves

There will be a lot to celebrate when the point-to-point community gets together to honour the champions at the awards ceremony in Kilkenny on June 7.

As I saw it, the season had two main features: a steady stream of high-class performances on the track, many leading to high-value sales, and a consistent trend of strong attendances at fixtures in all the regions.

My experience has been positive regarding support from local communities. There have been great crowds at many venues, helping to create a lively atmosphere with families and young people enjoying the day out. With continuing hard work, local committees can build on this goodwill.

The standard in the shop-window maidens was maintained from last October through to recent weeks. 

Every horse is different in terms of ability and ground or distance preferences. We see a lot of variety in the pedigrees in our points. That's good because it means we can aim to supply different areas of a diverse market.

For many, the dream is to produce a top-class staying chaser. We all know how few and far between they are, so we need to produce horses who can pay their way at a wide range of ability levels and can withstand a long career over jumps.

We face stiff competition from horses trained in France in their younger days, and we're reliant on previous crops to advertise the benefits of a point-to-point education. Thankfully, the results from last season, from the major festivals down to the everyday meeting, show that our system is in a healthy state.

I'm sure we've seen many future stars pass through this season. Some of them will be the obvious ones, a few will be surprise packages. You never know. I've picked out a few that I'll follow with interest, just a sample of horses that impressed me.

Hold The Serve, a Jukebox Jury produced by Sean Doyle to win at Borris House last December, is a lovely prospect. On that day, I rode the winner of the other division, the Sam Curling-trained Cosmos D'Ainay, already a bumper winner for Gordon Elliott. Hold The Serve won in a ten-second faster time, a huge performance. He’s gone to Olly Murphy to be trained for the McNeill family.

Barry O'Neill: leading rider for the ninth time

Bud Fox won at Belharbour for me in February, showing good speed to put the race to bed in a contest with a reputation for producing nice horses. He won a Punchestown festival bumper on his first start for Gavin Cromwell. He has plenty of speed and jumps well. 

The Denis Murphy-trained Jet Of Stars travelled smoothly and put all his rivals under pressure from a long way out when winning at Oldtown in February. He changed hands at the Tattersalls Cheltenham sale to join Lucinda Russell.

Maidens at Monkgrange are always worth a look, and we saw two stout performers there at the end of March. Ellemarie Holden's Hernando De Soto was held up in a strong-run race and came through the field easily to show great speed. Lemmy Caution, trained by Colin Bowe, was ridden up with the pace and put in a fine jumping and staying performance to win as he liked. The pair found a new home with Gordon Elliott at the Goffs UK Aintree sale.

Colin is the champion handler for the tenth consecutive year and the 13th time in all. He had 42 winners, only four short of his career-best. He still had ammunition left on the final weekend when Belle Star Outlaw, a daughter of Kalanisi, won the five-year-old mares' maiden on Saturday's card at Ballingarry.

Sam Curling had a strong season with 34 wins, beating his previous best score of 32. Sean Doyle, who took third place with 27 wins, has increased his total in every one of the last six seasons and beat his previous best by seven. He led the way for the Monbeg operation, three ahead of his brother Donnchadh, who shared fourth place on the table with David Christie, whose star performer, the amazing Winged Leader, recorded 11 wins from 15 starts.

Sam Curling: had 34 winners and helped Toni Quail to the women's titleCredit: www.healyracing.ie

Barry O'Neill, who shared the riders' championship with Rob James last season, won his ninth title by a 15-winner margin (56-41), with Rob taking the runner-up spot ahead of Jamie Scallan on 35. O'Neill, the outright winner of the northern regional title, shared the southern title with Jamie who drew level with a comfortable front-running win on the Cormac Doyle-trained Krystal Sky in the four-year-old mares' maiden at Ballingarry on Saturday.

Barry Stone finished level with Rob James in the eastern region, and I was delighted to win the western region outright for the first time since 2019. Riding six winners at the Quakerstown meeting was my highlight of the season, and it was great to do it at a venue in my part of the country.

Toni Quail was a deserving winner of the women's title. She rode nine winners from just 16 rides, ending the season strongly on Sam Curling-trained horses. Congratulations are in order too for Pandora Briselden who rode five winners, and commiserations to Maxine O'Sullivan, whose chance of retaining the title she held jointly ended with a fall at Dawstown early in the month. 

On a happier note, well done to Orla Queally, daughter of trainer and former champion points rider John Queally, who rode her first point winner in the Ladies Open at Ballingarry on Sunday on Pat Coyne, trained by her father and owned by her mother Miriam. Finally, it was good to see David Doyle emerge as the star of the under-21 scene with 14 wins, five clear of Bertie Finn.

It's been a fine season on many fronts, but if I had one wish for next season, it would be to see more young riders – male and female – getting opportunities to make a name for themselves. We need a deeper pool of experienced riders to show off our young horses to maximum effect.

Read more Derek O'Connor columns:

Godolphin cast-off looks to be an inspired purchase at 25,000gns for Cormac Doyle

It might not be how you see it, Rachael, but you're a role model for every young girl with ambition in any sport 

Reflecting on a special Punchestown festival as Its On The Line brings up the Champion Hunters Chase hat-trick 

Cheltenham Festival-winning jockey pips Rob James to land eastern title as season reaches a thrilling crescendo

The joy of six: ‘It was right up there with my best days in point-to-points’

Late-starting novice and go-to schooling rider Michael Kenneally lands first treble 

Fine advert: former Irish pointers fill seven of first nine Grand National places 

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