Seven race card for this year’s Belvoir Point-to-Point meeting at Garthorpe

This year’s Belvoir Point-to-Point meeting at Garthorpe will take place on Sunday.

Gates open at 10am with tickets on the gate at £15 for adults and under 16s are free.

The weather forecast is dry throughout this week.

Organisers will post going updates to social media platforms as and when they have them.

The Belvoir hosts a seven-race card, starting at midday with a level three conditions race for horses which have not won certain races since 2019.

There will be 11 horses entered, two of which, First Drift and Perpignan, were second on their last outings, the latter as recently as the March 5.

Trainwreck could be another to watch.

The second race is a Members race for locally trained horses which has attracted six entries.

The hot horse here is John Chatfeild-Roberts’ Smoke Man, with two wins so far this season, but they won’t have it all their way as trainer Kelly Morgan will be up against her own sister Laura, trainer of Skipping On.

Kelly Morgan also trains Vinnie Lewis who has a second entry in the last of the day, so may choose to run in that over this one.

The Chattertons’ Minella Friend is another to whom this applies.

Intermediate horses have previously won a maiden and a restricted race and the next race is for them, over the shorter distance of two and a half miles.

They will start at the top of the course rather than at the end of the home straight. Francesca Poste-trained Kaproyale is the highest-rated horse in this line-up, with three previous wins, but Bradley Gibbs will be challenging with Honey I’m Good, which he trains and rides.

Gina Andrews rides Bawnmore for Tom Ellis while Luke Humphrey trains and rides Cave Queen.

The feature race of the afternoon is the INEOS Grenadier Mixed Open, part of the National Mixed Open series sponsored by the off-road vehicle manufacturer.

There are some very experienced and talented horses in the mixed open line-up, including the in-form Al Shahir from the Tom Ellis yard.

However, to win this they have to overcome the likes of David Kemp-trained Caryto des Brosses, top-rated here, Dragon d’Estruval for Philip Rowley, Law of Gold which is another option for David Kemp and Badbad Leroy Brown, looking to avenge a defeat by Caryto des Brosses last time out.

This season a lot of meetings are splitting their maidens to provide separate races for the younger horses who are joining the point-to-point scene for the first time.

The fifth race on this card is for horses which are five-years-old and upwards and there will be 13 entered for this one.

Beauvallon Bay, Francesco du Clos and Keaden Hill all have second-place finishes last time they ran but this field includes horses from some of the country’s top trainers of young horses so this could go any way.

Following that is a maiden sponsored by the The Thoroughbred Breeders Association specifically for four-year-olds.

This will also be run over the shorter two and a half mile distance, starting at the top of the Garthorpe course.

This is very much a showcase of the good young horses and the successful horses will often get snapped up at sales this summer and move to racing under rules.

It’s no surprise that the five horses entered here are from three of the leading trainers in Francesca Poste, Tom Ellis and Bradley Gibbs.

The filly Milan’s Ruby gets a significant 7lb allowance here which could prove valuable.

Our last race of the day is for horses at the other end of their careers, those of nine-years-old and upwards.

The 11 entries here include Hidden Charmer (James King), Sir Mangan (Ben Sutton), Vinnie Lewis (George Chatterton) and Vivaldi Collonges (Ben Bromley) among a very capable field.

Garthorpe is a right-handed track with a reputation for being one of the best in the country for viewing and racing.

There will be trade stands and catering to visit between races, and bookmakers to challenge before them. Bring a picnic and enjoy the fact that you can view the whole course from your car if you wish.