CHAPTER LXII 



POINT-TO-POINT RACES 



It is difficult to account for the increasing popu- 

 larity of point-to-point gatherings, but that it is 

 increasing there can be no doubt. From far and 

 wide people flock to the trysting-place when it is 

 announced that this or the other hunt is going to 

 hold its annual meeting ; there are always large 

 fields, and the interest taken in the contests is 

 abnormal when it is taken into consideration how 

 little the spectators see of the fun, or for the 

 matter of that hear of it, for a perfectly lucid 

 account of " how they came " is not easy to get 

 from the average point-to-point jockey. Nor is 

 this to his discredit, for it must not be forgotten 

 by his critics that he is riding at a pace to which 

 he is unaccustomed, and that he has nothing but 

 the country in front of him. That the men who 

 ride in the races enjoy their fun I make no doubt, 

 but though I have attended a good many point- 

 to-point meetings in my time, I never could quite 

 see where the fun came in for the spectator. The 

 vague rules, if rules they can be called, which 

 govern the sport are by no means conducive to its 

 benefit. The National Hunt Committee practi- 

 cally refuse to legislate for point-to-point races, 

 for the rules they have made respecting registration 



