Old Berkshire Hunt Ltd
Lockinge point-to-point: next meeting Monday April 5, 2010 |
A brief history of Point to Pointing With the next Old Berks Point-to-Point meeting at Lockinge not until Monday April 5, 2010 we thought we would take the opportunity to look in more detail at the sport’s history… Ireland was the birthplace of steeple chasing. The sport originated from the ‘pounding matches’, which the Irish gentry held throughout the 18th Century. In each contest the leader, decided by lot, would choose as stiff a course across country as he dared. His opponent had to follow or lose by default. Victory went to the one who first ‘pounded’ his adversary to a standstill. Invariably the race was haphazard and although the pace was slow, there were appalling accidents to horse and rider as no holds were barred in the race to win. Eventually it became common practice to decide the races over an agreed line of country with a tower or church steeple as a landmark for the winning post. The first steeple-chase to be recorded was in 1752 when Edmund Blake challenged his neighbour to race from the steeple of St John’s Church in Buttevant over 4 ½ miles to the steeple of St Mary’s Church in Doneraile. By coincidence this church had been built by Sir William St Leger in 1633 and a relation of his, Lt Col Anthony St Leger, founded the St Leger horse race in 1776. It is the oldest of the five British classic races. During the 19th Century steeple chasing became more sophisticated with enclosed courses with Bedford being the first in 1810. Horses, many of which were Thoroughbreds, became professionally trained although there were no common rules until the formation of the National Hunt Committee in 1866. Point to Pointing originates from the same roots as steeple chasing. Gradually, because of growing professionalism in the sport, the amateur riders and their hunters began to hold their own races from which professional jockeys and race horses were barred. Early records show that the Worcestershire Hunt held sporadic meetings from 1836 and the Atherstone claim to be the first hunt to stage an annual Point to Point in 1904. In 1913 the Master of Hounds Point to Point Association created a set of rules which, at that time, included lady riders who often rode side saddle but who, from 1929-1967, were only permitted to ride in races specifically for lady riders. For a short time the sport was overseen by a Joint Adversary Committee which comprised three members of the National Hunt Committee and three representatives of the Mast of Fox Hounds Association. From 1935 Point to Pointing fell completely under the jurisdiction of the National Hunt Committee which, at the end of the 1960s, was merged in to the Jockey Club. More recently, the Jockey Club has transferred its powers to the British Horseracing Authority who are today responsible for the rules and regulations of the sport. They in turn delegate its administrative function for the sport to the Point to Point Authority which was set up in 2008. In 1999 Best Mate won a Point to Point in Tuam, Ireland before going on to win one of the most prestigious steeple chases, three times… the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
"The lads from the village", the first recorded steeplechase, 1830
Chairman Mr A Constance, tony@saconstance.com, 01793 710720 Entires: contact Wetherbys 01993 440077
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