THE effects of the ongoing suspension to the point-to-point season have been far-reaching, with those riders coming through the ranks particularly hit by the timing of the shutdowns coinciding with the peak spring season where the majority of riders find most of their opportunities.

The 2018/19 season was the last campaign to reach its full conclusion and it saw Luke Murphy break into the top five riders nationally and Michael O’Sullivan crowned leading under-21 rider, as they won 21 and 16 races respectively.

But with much of their successes coming during the spring term the last two interruptions have stalled their rise.

“After that season I was very confident in my riding and everything was going to plan, I was just looking to build on that going into the season last year but it was stopped, that was tough,” said O’Sullivan, a third-year Animal Science student at UCD.

“Then as I was starting to get going again and the confidence was coming back, the Covid hit. It has definitely been a disaster. I have had 27 point-to-point winners now, I had 16 of them in that one season and then the following year I only had two.

“Financially for me it is not too bad, I am at college and I am still young and living at home, but for the older lads who are trying to make a living out of this. The likes of James Hannon, Eoin O’Brien, Darragh Allen, Johnny Barry, a few of the lads around here, the point-to-points are their bread and butter. This is their living and it has been taken away from them so you are talking the weekly wage cut in two if not more.”

It was a similar story for 24-year-old Murphy, who said: “Last season was a disaster for me. I think I had two winners up to Christmas and then I got suspended and I missed about four or five meetings with that.

“By the time the four-year-olds came around we had the weather problems. I did ride a winner in Tyrella and then a week later the whole thing was finished so I had no run at it and it has been the same again this season. Since the Covid has hit it has tightened everything up.”

Although just 20 himself, O’Sullivan is keenly aware of the importance that point-to-pointing has in getting riders started, with his own younger brother Alan currently embarking on his first season of riding in point-to-points.

“Your first season is very important to get you going. It’s not necessarily about getting winners but just getting the experience in and to be developing as a jockey which is massively important, and he is going to be a year behind in his development along with everyone who just started this season. It is putting everyone back,” he added.

With another year in UCD ahead of him O’Sullivan will remain as an amateur as will Murphy who has not been in a position to pick up the same opportunities on the track in recent weeks that other point-to-point riders have, but he remains committed to the sport.

Make a living

“I am very immersed in point-to-pointing, I chose to base myself every day with Denis (Murphy) and then I am at home in the afternoon’s doing our own horses, so I am not going to be able to make a living out of riding on the track at the minute but I am happy enough to hold tough. Denis has been good to me so I am happy to stand by him.”

That is a sentiment shared by one of last season’s joint-champion under-21 riders Brian Lawless. His successes last year have seen his services called upon by the likes of Donnchadh Doyle, Matthew Flynn O’Connor and Peter Croke, and have proven to be a platform for him into this season where his current tally of nine winners is already a career best.

“This season had been a good year and it is just a pity the way things have gone. It is only around this time of the year that it really starts to open up when you have plenty of four-year-old races from March onwards, that is where a lot of the lads get the most of their opportunities. But I would like to stay amateur, I love point-to-pointing and things have been going well up to now.”