Hertfordshire trainer/rider Bradley Gibbs teamed up with Welsh owner David Brace for a double at a sunny Maisemore on the banks of the Severn on Tuesday, the first fixture in Worcestershire since early December. 
Gloucester Races proved once again how safe it is to run a Point-to-Point during these Covid-affected times. The sport made a welcome return with three meetings on Monday afternoon, but the large number of runners and warm conditions at this fixture presented a major challenge for all concerned.

A number of races were split at declaration which resulted in 10 races and a 12 noon start. There were doubles for owner David Brace and rider Bradley Gibbs, a winner from Yorkshire and three first time winners in Beau Morgan, Ellie Jefferson and Josh Barber, which proved the sport is back on the path to “normality”.

Temperatures reached 22 degrees by mid-afternoon which tested the skills of the Vets and their large team of helpers who constantly had to replenish the water supplies down at the finish and by the unsaddling enclosure to enable “cooling down procedures” to be carried out to maximum effect.
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Gibbs rode Gats and Co to take Division I of the 6-year-old Maiden. The winner had been pulled up on heavy ground at Hereford in February, but seemed more at home on this surface and was given a confident ride before catching the long-time leader Wilcox and Co at the 16th.

Later, Brace and Gibbs teamed up to take Division I of the Veterans Race with Robin des People. A prolific winner between the flags earlier in his career, the 11-year-old seemed to benefit from a return to Pointing and was one of three horses in with a chance on the final bend.
Ballykan and Model Cloud were vying for the lead at this point but Gibbs timed his run to perfection on Robin des People and the partnership swept clear of their rivals over the final two obstacles.

The East Anglian circuit gets underway tomorrow when the Essex & Suffolk stage a Good Friday fixture behind closed doors at Higham. See Higham Races for a live stream. 

There’s nothing more guaranteed to get racing fans talking than making a list of Cheltenham greats. There have been some brilliant winners of the Stayers’ Hurdle since 2000 and a top-class panel of Nick Luck, AP McCoy and Nigel Twiston-Davies came up with their favourite five.

In case you can’t see your favourite in the Top 5, watch the full video to see why Nick, AP and Nigel left them off the list. Former winner and one of this year’s favourites, Paisley Park, was considered but did not seal a spot, while More Of That, Baracouda, Inglis Drever and Big Buck’s all made the final cut.
Here is the countdown…

In 5th place – More Of That The 2014 winner caused something of a shock when seeing off Annie Power — and AP who picked the wrong JP McManus runner in At Fishers Cross. It seems like AP is still smarting about it. He said: “I put More Of That in there because it’s quite depressing to think I didn’t ride him and he beat me! But he beat Annie Power giving her the weight and on the day I thought it was a brilliant performance.”

In 4th place – Thistlecrack Thistlecrack has just retired after a glittering career and the whole panel agreed the 2016 winner deserves his place on this list.
Twiston-Davies is a big fan: “He looked superb on the day he won the Stayers’ Hurdle — you just couldn’t fault him.”

In 3rd place – Baracouda The second JP McManus-owned champion was just pipped for second place by Inglis Drever. His 2002 and 2003 wins will live long in the memory. McCoy thinks he deserves his place for the way he kept coming back to Cheltenham: “He beat Iris’s Gift one year, was second to him another time and Inglis Drever then beat him.”

In 2nd place – Inglis Drever The panel found it very hard to split numbers two and three. Nick thinks there was little between them. But Twiston-Davies just made him his runner-up. He said: “In the end Inglis Drever won more.”

The winner – Big Buck’s There’s no hiding AP’s admiration for Paul Nicholls’ hurdler who won four in a row from 2009. He said: “He was never visually that impressive but he just kept winning. It didn’t matter which horse came each year to take them on, he ditched them all. As a staying hurdler, there were no chinks — he had it all.”

Check out all the latest horse racing betting odds at William Hill
Check out all the latest horse racing betting odds at William Hill

Following an announcement of the resumption of Point-to-Point racing from March 29, the Point-to-Point Authority has been quick to reappraise the fixture list to accommodate owners and riders frustrated by a lack of opportunity. 

A total of 54 fixtures are planned over the 12 weeks from the end of March to beginning of June for the final curtain in the West Country. The calendar for fans in the Home Counties and East Anglia has been especially badly hit with just 3 fixtures remaining within an hour of London at Higham on April 2, Aldington on April 16, and High Easter on April 25. Those on the western edge of London can visit fixtures at Kingston Blount in May. 

At the present time, no spectators are permitted to attend, but in anticipation that this will change, there may yet be a chance for fans of the sport to enjoy it in the flesh. Meantime, virtually every fixture will be streaming races live. 

The full national fixture list may be seen here.

The uncertainty around the permitted return of spectators to Point-to-Points has forced the race committee at Northaw Races to cancel their fixture for May 3rd 2021. 

Whilst Pointing will be permitted again behind closed doors from March 29, the return of spectators is, as yet, unscheduled. Douglas Pirie, Secretary of the fixture, remarked,"There are sadly too many unknowns to make planning for a fixture sensible. Not only might we be faced with a fixture unable to admit spectators, but the pursuit of support, both commercial in the form of sponsorship, and from the myriad volunteers we need to make this event viable, has been massively disrupted by the impact of the virus."

North London's only Point-to-Point will return on the corresponding date in 2022.

Following the Prime Minister’s Announcement yesterday, the Point-to-Point Authority is planning to restart the sport in week commencing March 29.
Peter Wright, CEO, reported, "We are working hard to create a new fixture list which reflects the situation, and hope to have one available by the end of this week – there is no shortage of volunteers. 
I realise that this will be disappointing news for some as we are inherently safe with very low densities, no fomites and no ventilation problems - apart from it sometimes being too windy. However, we do not operate in a bubble, and we have to be on the same page as other amateur sports." 
This will still leave 11-12 weeks of the season remaining, including the two major Foxhunter chases at Aintree and Stratford. 
In terms of the paying public and Owners, the government position is not yet clear but racing will restart behind closed doors until April 12 at the least. 
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Egham sits just outside Windsor, not a million miles away from the current Kempton Park, and its first established races took place in 1734. Three races were held on consecutive days in September.

No-one quite relates why only one race took place each day, but the prize money of £25 across 3 races, worth about £3,000 in today's money, or 250 days' work for a skilled artisan. Several heats would take place before the main event.

Such was the popularity of the races that they continued to be staged each year until 1770, when a change in venue from Egham Meadow to Runnymede allowed a greater crowd and more confidence in the future of the event. The main prize had increased in value to £50. The races acquired titles like the Magna Carta Plate, Gentlemen's Subscription Plate and Town Plate. There is also some evidence of proper rules, an inference perhaps to race-fixing hitherto.

The races also developed commercially at this time. Entries had to be made at the local Red Lion pub, so cock-fighting was introduced to ensure owners dwelt longer than they should. Booths were created for hire at the races so the nobility didn't have to mix with the working class. 

Sadly the 1773 races ended in tragedy when a spectator was trampled underfoot and died of his injuries. At this juncture there was no railing of the racecourse, nor any public address. The poor fellow had just been trying to discover the winner. The same happened a second time 5 years later, but happily no serious injury occurred.

However, being trampled turned out not to be the only element of danger around the races. Pickpockets and highwaymen adopted the races as an easy touch where gentlemen were carrying a little too much cash to be safe. 

And as with all aspirational racing fixtures, royal connections adopted the sport. The London Times wrote in 1786, "Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York were at Egham races on Wednesday; when a greater concourse of the Nobility and Gentry was also on the race-ground, than perhaps was ever remembered on a like occasion. The sport was excellent."

It would appear the royal family took a shine to Egham, as the Times reported again 18 years later in 1808, "Her Majesty and the Princesses have been highly entertained at Egham Races, where the Dukes of York and Clarence presided as Stewards of the Race. A handsome platform was by their order prepared for the accommodation of the Royal visitors, and nearly adjoining an elegant marquee was erected, in which her Majesty, the Princesses, and the Dukes of York, Clarence, and Cumberland dined." Egham had become a copycat Ascot. 

In 1814, Parliament passed an act allowing the enclosure of lands at Egham. However, such was the importance of the annual races that this patch of land was specifically excluded to allow the races to continue. 

George IV continued attending the races, after he ascended the throne, attending all three days in 1829 when he entered ‘his favourite mare Fleur-de-lis’, and his brother William IV, formerly the Duke of Clarence, continued attending in the 1830s. The royal attendance in 1833 was recorded in the Berkshire Chronicle;
‘The delightful state of the weather combined with the promised visit of their Majesties attracted a very full and fashionable attendance … The races have always been a source of considerable profit of the town … By one o’clock the assemblage on Runnymede was scarcely inferior to the best days of Egham; the sides of the course were lined – that next to the river with the stands and marquees (including Tippoo Sultan’s magnificent tents) the other with an immense number of carriages and other vehicles."

This was likely the summit of Egham's popularity. When Queen Victoria ascended the throne, racing was somewhat lower in her estimation. The 1837 fixture was wet and windy, and like race meetings everywhere, did not fully recover the following year either. 

The loss of royal patronage continued the downward slide of Egham, although the commercial success was maintained by the growth of the railways that allowed spectators to travel from London to Staines and Egham by the mid 1850s. Sadly though, the trains also brought ne'er do wells with them and the pickpocketing and thievery began again.

Without royal support, the local constabulary was less than anxious to resolve the situation and ceased to attend the fixture after the conclusion of the 1884 fixture, upon which the meeting was transferred to nearby Kempton Park, which was fully enclosed and secure. 
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