Point-to-Point Racing Sporting Traditions

There's something wonderful about a horse,

I just can't explain it to you.

The makings of a good racehorse combines courage,

a bit of stamina and speed.

Well, there must be something very special,

because there's nearly 7,000 point-to-point horses in Ireland.

It's a family thing, from everybody right down.

And once it's in your blood, it never goes out of it.

It's an amazing partnership when it all comes together.

You have the equine end of it and the human end of it,

and it's amazing the way the pair of them seem to combine.

Five winners at the last Cheltenham meeting came from the point-to-point circuit.

The danger end of it, you never think of it.

I've broken my ribs, wrist, fibula, tibia...

Sure, you bounce back, it's a love of the sport,

and the love of going fast will get you back in the saddle as soon as you can.

The dream of winning and the dream of breeding a winner,

that keeps everybody in the business.

My father took me to my first point to point,

it was 1948 I think, and I was hooked from then on.

We hadn't any horses except the working horses,

I was a farmer's daughter,

and this spectacle of horses racing was absolutely amazing.

Point to pointing really was the hunting people having a day's fun.

How they started was,

two chaps used to... One said to the other,

"My horse is faster than yours," and then it was put to the test.

People just got on their hunters and hunted them round and raced them,

and then gradually, people got better horses and faster horses.

In those days, they jumped mostly over natural fences,

it was a cross country.

They would have trimmed or helped them a bit.

There was a lot of gorse and everything else, or firs,

and they would have jumped over open ditches, or sheughs.

It was like a big fair, a big race meeting.

It was EVERYBODY who went to a point to point.

All of Donegal, bits of Monaghan, Cavan, all those people all came up,

that was like their Grand National, their Gold Cup Day at Cheltenham.

The large tent was always put up for the farmers to have tea,

they were entertained, that was one way of entertaining the farmers and their wives,

thanking them for going over the land.

It takes an amount of volunteers to run a point to point,

especially ON the race day.

Hello, good to see you. Good to see you. Oh, my.

Can you bring a tractor for the ice-cream man? He's stuck.

'There's a clerk of scales, there's weigh-ins,

'there's fence judges.'

Don't run in to the middle of a situation.

If there's a faller or a rider badly injured, let everything by first, don't run to the middle.

If we're closing off, put the disc in the fence facing the horses.

You have your bars,

where I have a port on a cold day.

Two hot port.

'You have to have your ambulances, doctors, vets and fence stewards,

'everybody in place.'

She comes through on the radio

to say a doctor's needed immediately.

'They're all there free, gratis, and they're great.'

I'm covering doctor at the meeting today.

Every point-to-point meeting has to have two doctors

as well as a paramedic for safety purposes.

You're basically there to check riders after they have a fall

to make sure they're safe.

Because in most cases, guys get up and walk away

because they don't want to miss races, they're made of iron.

In most cases, they're easy to treat now.

I'm also riding in the ladies' race, so...it'll be busy!

We get local farmers, local shopkeepers, they look forward to the day.

The only thing, we've an autumn season now as well as a spring season,

so they have TWO days out now in the year instead of just the one.

But the local people in the local area do come to the point to point.

From Ballymena, to Banbridge, to Newry, to wherever they are,

to Downpatrick...

The fact that we go to different parts of the country every weekend

and we have a new audience every weekend,

it keeps it alive and it keeps it good.

You bring your box, a little bit of drink, sandwiches, champagne, caviar, salmon.

It's for everyone, townie and country.

People that wouldn't have even seen a horse in the stable,

but once they see it once, they want to come back.

I think it's in your blood.

Both my grandparents rode and my grandfather point to pointed.

Point to point is the springboard for racing.

They go from point to points, they go into the novice,

there's maiden races, then they go into open races,

which qualifies them to go to hunt chases

which are held on the racecourse.

From hunt chases, they can go to steeplechases.

They can be running here today and six months to a year,

18 months down the line,

they can run in the English or Irish Grand National.

On the point to point course here behind me a few years ago

Bindaree won his maiden and went on to Liverpool to win a Grand National.

It's nice to see a horse, a nice young horse come out

that you've trained and he jumps well, and he wins well.

It means you've done your job.

People will say, it's only a rich man's sport.

There's men with one horse that get the same enjoyment as if you have five in the stable.

But a lot, a lot of people love to train their own, exercise it,

rear it, ride it, and win on it if they can.

There's not too many people now riding point to points just for the fun of it.

Whereas, years ago, they might have had a horse

that they could have had a wee spin round on and enjoyed themselves.

But there's not as many people doing that now, you know?

It's all sort of serious.

Money doesn't buy you a racehorse.

There's been many a one paid a load of money and they're no good.

The wee man down the road could have spent a few hundred and beat everybody.

You don't know, nobody knows.

Yes, you like confirmation on how they go well,

and, yeah, that looks good.

But nobody knows where the engine is.

I think it's a disease with the bookies, too.

A lot of them are, like us all, getting on past their sell by date,

but they still come in the freezing cold.

They're absolute gentlemen, they're absolute gentlemen,

and they've tried in every way to support the point to points.

They give us so much for a pitch and they pay their way in.

They love the sport and the craic.

I'm sure they love the money as well!

Cold today, isn't it?

It's not good for this job, really, is it?

'I love the weigh room, there's nothing like it.

'You get in and it's an escape from the outside.

'And if you're having a bad day,

'the rest of the lads let you know about it.

'There's no quarter given.

'In the racing world,

'the different sets of colours will be an owner's identity.

'Frequent race goers then would know that such and such colours

'would maybe belong to that prominent owner,

'because every horse I ride usually has a different owner.

'But things can get a bit hectic,

'you have to keep looking at your race card.

'It wouldn't be the first time

'I maybe walked out with the wrong set on me!'

The young fellas are the ones you have to try and school.

They're like joyriders, you have to control them a wee bit now and again.

Once they get a knock or two and they're lying at the back of a fence

with their heels up,

they'll certainly listen then to what you've told them.

I suppose whenever you're used to it,

we've been going racing since we were children,

and you see people falling and getting up again.

I've had a few falls but, thankfully, touch wood, no injuries.

-I've broken my collarbone.

-Three times.

Three times, but that's minor compared to it.

God, I've broken numerous types of bones, you know.

I've broken my ribs, my wrist...

my fibula, tibia,

my shin bone. I was going to say my cannon bone there,

but that's a part of a horse, isn't it?

But, yeah, my shin bone, actually.

I've torn quite a few ligaments and muscles.

You watch footballers and they can't wait to hit the ground.

Our guys, once they hit the ground, they're up. They run away

from the ambulance in case they get stood down for the next race.

Catch him! Catch him!

I think footballers should take a leaf out of their book.

Sure, you bounce back, you know.

It's a love of the sport and going fast that gets you back in the saddle as soon as you can, you know?

-TERENCE:

-Just walk in....

'People don't believe you're nervous.

'Yes, I'm nervous.

'I have been known to maybe say an odd word,'

maybe a wee bleep is required.

Asked you what the hell you're doing.

"It's today we're starting, not tomorrow."

But I don't really mean it that way.

'People think I'm a wee bit crabbit.

'In fact they think I'm thran too, but that's another story.'

Hold on! You're not going anywhere! Stay there.

Hey!

Plenty of time, come on.

'Once the race goes, you don't get a time even to go to the wee house,

'there's just no time for anything.'

They're not hanging about.

When you go down to the start you think, "Why am I doing this?"

You head into the first fence and you get over it.

Something else takes over

and it's the most amazing feeling in the world.

You wouldn't believe the pressure your heart and lungs come under,

albeit the horse is doing the work for you.

But you have to keep the whole thing motivated

and just keep it in a forward motion.

To ride a good horse for anybody is to sit in a good car,

as soon as you get on it, you can see a nice dashboard, you've plenty of room around you,

you put the foot down and you've got a little bit left,

you can keep asking a fast car and it'll keep performing

that's the same as a good racehorse.

There's no such thing as a fast race when you're on a good racehorse,

everything's in slow motion.

The buzz comes from the survival aspect of it.

You've jumped 15 fences,

you're on a green horse, he doesn't know a whole lot

and you have to get from A to B in the fastest possible time,

and that to me is just a real kick,

especially whenever it all works out.

There's no feeling like it. I think the adrenaline, or whatever,

it's just an amazing thrill, and when you win, it's just...

I've not had a greater feeling, it's just amazing,

it's like a complete high.

24 now, so I am.

As long as I stay fit and healthy,

and hopefully keep in one piece,

God, yeah, I would love to keep riding winners

as often and as many as I possibly could.

-TERENCE:

-There was a rich man in the past.

He said, there's only two kinds of people keep horses -

millionaires and fools.

And I can assure you, there's very few millionaires.

We might be fools, but we love what we're doing.

I think the point to point will always continue

because the people that are following it won't let them go away.

They'll always want to have,

or they'll try and run, point to points.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]