When – on New Year’s Day – Caroline Bailey became chair at the Point-to-Point Authority (PPA), no one could doubt she knew the sport.
A version of this article first appeared in the Racing Post on Friday 10th May
The first woman to ride a winner at Cheltenham and a former trainer of a succession of high-quality pointers and hunter chasers, she then trained under rules until relinquishing her licence in the summer of 2022. Her parents rode as amateurs and her father Dick Saunders was a revered jump racing all-rounder with a list of associations longer than Aintree’s run-in. He knew that strip of turf, having ridden Grittar to victory in the 1982 Grand National, at 48 still the race’s oldest winning rider.
Summing up her new role, Bailey says: “I’m chair of a board which consists of various groups within the sport, plus three independent members. We look after point-to-pointing and aim to guide it in the right direction while considering views fed back to us from around the country.” Of herself, she says: “I’m not running the sport on my own, I’m a sounding board passing information to various committees, but I will take difficult decisions when needed.”
Jobs ticked off so far including appointing Paul Miller as chief executive to replace Peter Wright, who leaves office next month, and driving around the country to speak with organisers and volunteers “to get a feel for how the sport is running”. She says: “I have been delighted to see large crowds at meetings,” and adds: “The sport is the same more or less wherever you go, but people are very passionate about their own areas. It is interesting to listen to their opinions.”
Galloping towards her board like a runaway horse towing a loaded cannon is the prospect of a Labour government, which has signalled its intention to ban trail hunting, leaving hunts in limbo. Hunts run the majority of point-to-point meetings, they know their racecourses, the people to call upon to maintain them, and the logistics of staging fixtures. Bailey’s board exists to maintain point-to-pointing, so what is its plan should Labour swing the axe?
She says: “We would be failing the sport if we brushed this subject under the carpet. We have discussed options, but I cannot give you details because we have no idea of Labour plans or any time frame should it form the next government. The plans we have discussed might change.
“Trail hunting was banned in Scotland last year, but point-to-points are still taking place and they want to stage an extra fixture next season. Club meetings, with hunt backing, have been in existence for a long time and are successful. I was impressed by a meeting at Charm Park run by Yorkshire jockeys [past and present] who did all the work.”
The season’s new conclusion at the end of May, leaving two Devon fixtures to be held outside of it in early June, is a prickly topic decided before she took office, although she says she is not against the decision. A broader concern is, “the need to get younger people to help run the sport”, she says, adding: “We need younger people to become starters and stewards and take on similar roles.”
Volunteers are as much a part of point-to-pointing as the horses, but finding them among a youthful generation that is building careers, setting up homes or starting families is like searching for a virus without a microscope. Cash can prise open many a door, and Bailey is not against a future with reimbursement for some roles.
Maintaining or increasing the number of horses is a primary issue, although ironically a chronically wet season and a reduced fixture list has resulted in higher-than-expected entries and runners.
Bailey commends the PPA and the Point-to-Point Secretaries’ Association, which looks after the fixture list, “for handling postponements and abandonments as well as they could have done”, and she would like to consider ways of encouraging affordable syndication as one measure to bolster the horse population.
A discussion paper, sent to invested groups by the PPA, asks for views on allowing licensed trainers to run horses in point-to-points. Some consider that a death knell, others see it as bringing clarity – and possibly horses – to a situation where there is some opacity over who is running what. Bailey, whose husband Gerald took responsibility for a yard of pointers when she gained a licence, says: “There are split yards [one with rules horses, the other with pointers]. There are very tight controls over which horses are in licensed yards. Confusion can occur when an unknown assistant trainer, using their employer’s facilities, runs a horse in a point-to-point. We have discussed this and are awaiting feedback from outside the board.”
She confirms that one consideration is to allow licensed trainers to run horses solely in four- and five-year-old maiden races, but she says: “It is vital that – whatever comes next – the small owners, trainers and owner/riders do not feel pushed out. They are as important today as they have ever
been.”
Paying tribute to the outgoing CEO, she says: “Peter has done a fantastic job in very challenging circumstances. He has had to deal with equine flu, 18 months of Covid restrictions and many other issues, but with his army background he ran the sport incredibly well. He kept the sport going – it would have been very difficult to bring it back. He has put in no end of work behind the scenes, his knowledge of the sport is incredible, and he knows all the officials and participants by name.
“We are looking forward to working with his replacement, Paul Miller. We had 25 applicants, we whittled it down to eight and gave second interviews to two. Paul gave a very good presentation, he is enthusiastic and he has a business brain. He has ideas for maintaining the sport in the future.”
When Bailey finished training, her husband, having no idea of the role his wife would later accept, formed The Whisky & Water Partnership to own a point-to-pointer and maintain their interest in the sport. Ragnar Lodbrok was bought through Newmarket trainer James Owen and is trained by his wife, vet Jenny.
Ragnar Lodbrok (left, Alex Chadwick) on his way to victory at Dingley
The nine-year-old has now won ten of his 14 point-to-points, but in his own way. In Dingley’s four-miler earlier this month, he gave up a six-length lead heading to the final fence, allowed a rival to go four lengths clear, but then sprinted up the run-in to win on the line. “At least we now know he stays,” was the dry comment of joint-owner John Sharp.
If Bailey can work out Ragnar Lodbrok then other conundrums should be well within her scope.
