RACING
How many races are there at each meeting?
Meetings can schedule up to seven races. This can change on the day though, and may rise to up to 10 races if races are over-subscribed and they have to be divided.
How often are the races?
Most meetings will run their races at intervals of 30 or 35 minutes. So the action keeps coming thick and fast.
What type of races are there?
The main types of races that you will see at a Point-to-Point meeting are as follows:
Club Members; Confined; Hunt Members; Intermediate; Ladies Open; Maiden; Mens Open; Mixed Open; and Restricted.
There are other factors that can restrict entry to some. Typical of these are by horses' age and sex, e.g. Mares Maiden Race (a Maiden race for Mares only), a 4,5,6 & 7-y-o Maiden Race (a Maiden race for horses aged 4,5,6 or 7-years old only). Another is by being Confined to certain Hunts.
Why do some horses carry more weight than others?
The weight a horse carries depends on its age and sex. In simple terms, excluding any penalties (see Penalties below), the top weight to be carried will be 12st5lb or 12st (11st in Ladies Open races and 11st7lb in Mares Only races).
From these top weights certain horses will get allowances (weight off) depending on their age and sex.
The range of weights based on top weights of 12st5lb and 12st are as follows:
12st5lb for Horses and Geldings aged 6 years and older; 11st12lb for Mares of 6 years and older; 11st12lb for 5-y-o Horses and Geldings; 11st5lb for 5-y-o Mares; 10st12lb for 4-y-o Horses and Geldings; 10st5lb for 4-y-o Mares.
12st for Horses and Geldings aged 6 years and older; 11st7lb for Mares of 6 years and older; 11st7lb for 5-y-o Horses and Geldings; 11st for 5-y-o Mares; 10st7lb for 4-y-o Horses and Geldings; 10st for 4-y-o Mares.
The allowance structure is generally: 4-year-old fillies 28lbs, 4-year-old colts & geldings 21lb; 5-year-old mares 14lb; 5-year-old horses & geldings 7lb; 6-year-old & over mares 7lb.
Why do some horses carry a penalty?
Penalties are additional weight that is allotted to a horse, in certain types of races, based on what they have previously won.
The basis of the penalty system is to penalise horses (by way of additional weight) who have performed well and therefore, in essence, try and give each horse in the race a fair chance of winning.
How many horses can run in a race?
There are pre-determined limits to the number of horses that may line-up to start in a race. These are called Safety Factors. When these are exceeded at declaration, the race must be divided.
For Maiden races the maximum number is 18, and in all other races it is 20. However, Safety Factors are specific to each course and further, by race type.
How much prize-money is involved?
In Point-to-Pointing the levels of prize money are much lower than in National Hunt or Flat racing. In Open races (Mens, Ladies or Mixed) the total amount of prize money cannot be more than £500, and in all other races, no more than £300. However, each Point-to-Point Area can have a Feature Race, for which the total prize money cannot exceed £1,000.
