THE inclusion of a new support for point-to-point insurance grants in the 2024 Horse Racing Ireland budget has been hailed as a “fantastic help” by a spokesperson for the sector, though the same figure has warned the industry cannot afford to take its eye off the ball in terms of evolving its overall insurance structures.

A €100,000 allocation specifically designated for point-to-point insurance was announced this week in HRI’s overall funding of €2.6 million for the sector. According to the governing body, “HRI will also lead an industry insurance taskforce in 2024 to co-ordinate an industry-wide response to ongoing insurance risks facing the industry.”

Issues surrounding insurance have led to fixture cancellations and major concerns for point-to-pointing’s future in recent years, but the National Hunt Steeplechase, Point-To-Point and Field Sports insurance scheme has helped to provide a solid foundation for the sport to get underway without interruption in the 2023/’24 campaign.

A point-to-point community spokesperson told The Irish Field: “This grant from Horse Racing Ireland will go through the point-to-point committees, and any assistance to racing and point-to-pointing has to be welcomed. It’s a fantastic help to the sector, and therefore National Hunt racing in general.

“The importance of point-to-pointing cannot be underestimated as a window for our National Hunt horses in Ireland, but also as an outing for farmers who breed horses. They don’t all go to Cheltenham or Aintree, but a lot of them perform on the point-to-point fields and give us a lot of pleasure.”

On the overall landscape surrounding point-to-point insurance heading into 2024, the spokesperson added: “The picture is looking much healthier than was the case before. We’ve secured insurance for hunting and point-to-pointing into the future, and this is renewable on an annual basis. Undoubtedly it has put some hunts under financial pressure because they are paying a lot more for insurance now than they would have in the past. In that respect, that underlines the importance of a successful point-to-point to any hunt.

“The insurance side of things works as a three-tier system. Hunts bear the brunt of any initial claim, then we have a fund - which we hope will reach up to a couple of million euros over the next few years - and that will take the next part of any major claim. The insurance element is for the extraordinarily large claims.

“In essence, hunting and point-to-pointing in the future will have to be self-financing in terms of claims. While the overall picture is better than was the case in recent years, we cannot take our eye off the ball. Looking forward, we’ve got to become more aware of risk assessment, risk management and good governance.”

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