James King leading the way in men's title race as busy Easter could prove key in deciding championship divisions

As the long Easter weekend approaches, here are some point-to-point titbits to snack on between chocolate eggs:

King in pole position
Various championships are taking shape. In the men’s title race James King leads Will Biddick by 32 to 25 with the rest out of sight, while in the women's championship Gina Andrews has ridden 11 winners and leads Izzie Marshall by two. Tim Vaughan’s son Ed appears to have the novice men’s title in his palm, but it is tight in the three trainers’ championships. In the category for yards with 15 or more horses, five-time champion Tom Ellis and Gloucestershire’s Max Comley are joint-top with 15 winners, but Ellis will have no more runners after taking out a licence. Former champion Alan Hill has had 11 winners, but he has a series of ‘home games’ at courses near his Oxfordshire yard and – with 23 entries this weekend – is a key danger to Comley, who says: “I’d love to win it and for a moment, when Tom announced his plans, I thought it might be straightforward, but last weekend Josh Newman trained five winners and Gina saddled three, and realistically I don’t think we have the firepower.”

Record-breaker
Overton in Lanarkshire was the scene of a triumphant meeting on Saturday when it staged Britain’s most valuable point-to-point with £7,500 in prize-money. Ninety-one entries became 60 runners with eight or more runners in five of the seven races.

Crowds flock to Overton's fixture last week

Andrews treble
Gina Andrews, who last weekend took on responsibility for pointers trained at the Warwickshire yard hitherto run by husband Tom Ellis, notched a treble with her first three runners. However, they beat just five rivals on a Garthorpe card that was curiously thin on runners – a total of just 19 lined up.

Drought ended
Devon trainer Dean Summersby celebrated four winners at Kilworthy on Sunday, ending a lean run lasting more than a year. On Sunday evening he went on social media to thank his family for putting up with him while the yard was under a cloud. Kilworthy is one of Britain’s most picturesque courses – the drive across Dartmoor to reach it is worth the admission fee alone. For those holidaying in the region this weekend, it is worth heading to Cherrybrook, which is in an adjacent field.

National hopefuls
Britain’s point-to-point community is invariably happy to cheer one of its graduates when running under rules, but a double of unimaginable heights is brewing. Latenightpass, who has won nine point-to-points and three hunter chases, runs in the Randox Grand National, while Sine Nomine, who has collected five point-to-points and four hunter chases, tackles the following Saturday’s Coral Scottish Grand National. That they are still in the yards where their careers kicked off means they are true representatives of the sport.

Busy period
The Easter weekend’s 16 fixtures have been reduced to eight owing to waterlogging, but it is still a busy time in the Point-to-Point Racing Company’s office where entries and results are collated and published on pointtopoint.co.uk. However, staff might consider their predecessors who, 25 years ago, dealt with 13 Easter Saturday fixtures, 14 on bank holiday Monday and two the following day. There were also six Easter hunter chases.

Weekend preview

Endless rain continues to present challenges to everyone involved in the sport. Stumps were called on several fixtures on Thursday, and it is advisable to check the national website (details below) for any further postponements before setting off for Easter weekend meetings.

Lydstep holds the first meeting this season in Wales, and while the entry is not large, runners will include Jay Bee Whiskey, who with five wins is joint-top in the leading horse championship. Victory would complete an unusual treble for Jay Bee Whiskey, who has won in England and Scotland this season, and whose trainer, Max Comley, says: “He’s 15.1 hands and doesn’t look much of a racehorse, but he’s honest, he gallops and jumps.”

Mr Glass leads Pileon at Charlton Horethorne

At Cherrybrook the conditions race can go to Pileon, who was second recently to the talented Mr Glass, while Coolagh Park can repeat last year’s Easter win at Kimble. His Alan Hill-trained stablemate I K Brunel looks good at Higham. 

Fiona Needham, could send promising five-year-old Red Delta to Thorpe Lodge, where an intermediate race clash with Gina Ellis’s I’m Spellbound would be riveting, although the latter also holds an entry at Lockinge, where James Luck, brother of Nick, is set to run his family’s mare Sound Of Music.

Martin and Belinda Keighley’s son Freddie, 16, is honing plans to become a conditional jockey by gaining experience in point-to-points. He won on his second ride, Sametegal – who is only one year younger than his jockey – and the combination can score again at Paxford, where Hidor De Bersy, trained in Herefordshire by the talented Jo Priest, can win the mixed open race.

Today
Higham Suffolk, CO7 6NG –2.10. 6 races, 78 entries
Tranwell Northumberland – abandoned 

Tomorrow
Kimble Bucks, HP17 8TB – 1.30. 6 races, 81 entries
Chilfrome Dorset – postponed, date tbc
Dingley Northants – abandoned
Sandon Staffs, ST18 0DL – postponed, date tbc

Sunday
Cherrybrook Devon, PL19 0LA – 1.30. 6 races, 60 entries
Maisemore Park Glos – postponed, date tbc

Monday
Cothelstone Somerset, TA4 3DT – 1.30. 6 races, 70 entries
Lockinge Berks, OX12 8PA – 2.00. 6 races, 112 entries
Lydstep Pembrokeshire, SA70 7SG – 1.00. 6 races, 48 entries
Paxford Glos, GL55 6XS – 1.00. 6 races, 79 entries
Thorpe Lodge Notts, NG23 5PY – 1.30. 6 races, 74 entries
Trebudannon Cornwall – postponed to April 13
Corbridge Northumberland – postponed to April 20
Eyton-on-Severn Shropshire – abandoned

More information at pointtopoint.co.uk & gopointing.com

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