THE East Down Hunt held their second point-to-point of the season last Saturday at Tyrella, where they marked the pack’s 60 years’ association with the venue’s owners, the Corbett family.

In the company of the East Downs’ joint-masters, Pat Turley and Donna Quail, plus point-to-point secretary Kelvin Henderson, Eveleigh Brownlow, patron of the nearby Downpatrick racecourse, presented a silver salver to the current owners of Tyrella, John Corbett and his wife Hannah. Sadly, John’s father, David, died last September after a lengthy illness.

There were 59 runners at the seaside estate on Saturday, when former event rider Caroline McCaldin (née Dennison) saddled two winners, Slievehill and Ballybrittas. Caroline might be a bit stressed today, as she has runners at the North Down point-to-point at Kirkistown while her daughter, Anna, has a couple of horses entered in the Eventing Ireland Northern Region two-phase event at Tyrella.

So too has the home-based Emily Corbett, who was competing in the Balmoral qualifier at The Meadows on Saturday and so missed the point-to-point, and the above-mentioned Pat Turley, who was back at the venue early last Sunday morning doing reparation work on the ground.

Wearing the No 1 bib as he starts his show jumping phase at 8.30am will be Jonny Steele with Marvel/Point Of View, the 2018 Pointilliste gelding on whom he won last Saturday’s six and seven-year-old Balmoral qualifier at The Meadows.

Last to compete over the coloured poles, at 5.18pm, before heading off across the country, will be Eve Lindsay on Arctic Light.