Clarissa Daly on spotting future champions and making racing more accessible
There are three levels of pony racing; Pony Club , point-to-point – which takes place at 70 fixtures from January to June – and the Racecourse Series, which is 25 or so fixtures from April to October.
This year is obviously different, but we are still hoping to run at least 20 Racecourse Series fixtures from July to November. There are between two and three pony races run before or after the main programme, for children aged from nine to 16.
They need to qualify each year with their pony so we, or a Pony Club instructor, need to have seen them race. They’re all Flat races, from six furlongs to 1m3f and divided by pony height – 128cm, 138cm, and 148cm and under.
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This feature is also available to read in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 3 June 2021
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Freelance journalist
Born in Australia and bought up in the Midlands, Kate has ridden since childhood. After completing her degree and living abroad for several years, she became an award-winning BBC radio producer and Channel 4 documentary producer after which she became a freelance journalist, contributing to the Daily Mail, The Times, The Telegraph and others. She also collaborated with top jumps trainer Nicky Henderson OBE, to write his best-selling memoir, Nicky Henderson: My Life in 12 Horses . She owns currently cares for retrained National Hunt racehorse, Stop the Show.
