Almost three-quarters of Jump jockeys based in Britain began race riding in British point-to-points.
Figures provided by the Point-to-Point Authority (PPA) reveal that 75 per cent of senior professionals and 66 per cent of conditional jockeys absorbed early lessons in British point-to-points. Breaking those figures down, of 106 senior professional jockeys, 80 gained experience in British point-to-points, while 43 of 65 conditionals took the same route.
Graduates in recent months include Alice Stevens (Henry Daly), Freddie Gordon (Nicky Henderson) and James Turner (Nigel Twiston-Davies).
The majority start their journey to professional status by competing in point-to-points during their final year at school or college or while working in yards, often gaining early rides on a horse owned by parents or close family members. Others, with no family background in horses but a willingness to race-ride, gain help from employers. Some trainers keep a former hurdler or chaser on the yard to provide schooling and/or race-riding tuition to staff.
That can be an incentive towards retaining staff and it prolongs the careers of hurdlers and chasers who for any number of reasons have become uncompetitive in races under Rules.
Ben Pauling, who has entered five-year-old former hurdler Clapton Hill in a maiden race at Larkhill on Sunday, sees pointing as a way of introducing a novice to race-riding away from all-angle television coverage. He says: “In my view, you need to learn away from the eyes of the media and [television viewing] public. By riding in point-to-points, you are not going to be scrutinised by pundits the whole time and I think pointing is the best way to learn. I rode in the sport myself, very badly, but loved every second of it and the more I can encourage my staff to join in the better.”
Ben Pauling - encourages staff to ride in points (Ce)
Without Pauling’s willingness to provide a former hurdler/chaser for staff to ride, Megan Fox (pictured above on Raven’s Tower) might never have pulled on a set of colours. She has since formed a particularly potent association with 13-year-old Raven’s Tower, winning five point-to-points together and being placed on their other three outings, and ridden in half a dozen races under Rules. She says: “Riding in points has helped me massively. It’s not as high-pressured as riding under Rules and you can make small mistakes. There are also more opportunities to ride in points than there are in hurdles or chases. [Being in a yard] It helps having people behind you watching races and pointing out where you could improve. Kielan [Woods] and Luca [Morgan] have been a big help. “Riding in point-to-points helps you to build confidence before you ride under Rules. It’s the same, but different.”
Until 1990, anyone employed to look after horses – from ponies to hunters to racehorses – was deemed a professional and therefore could not ride in point-to-points. Those who rode in the sport worked in other trades, often farming, while a few took advantage of a loophole which deemed assistant trainers as amateurs. Once that regulation was consigned to the history bin, stable staff became common in point-to-point changing tents. The sport still attracts many ‘genuine amateurs’ employed in other professions, but working in a yard is an excellent starting point for young people to learn aspects of horsemanship and, if keen, race riding. That includes those who have medium-term career plans outside of racing.
Philip Hobbs and Johnson White have a strong association with Britain’s point-to-point circuit. They rode in the sport, their daughters followed suit, as did the stable’s legendary champion jockey Richard Johnson. Tom O’Brien and Micheal Nolan, who subsequently became the yard’s no.1 jockeys, were national novice mens’ champions, while the current holder of that title, Callum Pritchard, is employed by Hobbs and White. Ben Jones and Sean Houlihan, who back-up Nolan, each rode in points for several seasons before turning professional, while the yard’s conditional jockey Elizabeth Gale did likewise.
Hobbs says: “It’s hard to get going in racing. People need rides to get winners and winners to get rides. We don’t have a pointer this season, but we’ve had them in the past. A lot of our jockeys started in point-to-points. Callum Pritchard, who rode his first winner for us at Ludlow recently, will turn conditional in the future, but the more experience he gets in point-to-points now will help later. A lot of riders would not get started without the sport.”
Philip Hobbs - people need winners (Ce)
Coral Gold Cup-winning trainer Jamie Snowden is considering running eight-year-old hurdler/chaser College Oak in point-to-points this season, and says: “We always like to encourage young riders who want to try race riding and find them an opportunity. If we have a suitable horse in the yard it’s a great incentive, and point-to-pointing is a good starting point.”