Garthorpe Point to Point (Leics)

Five miles east of Melton Mowbray, Garthorpe Races (the “home of racing in Leicestershire”) hosts a number of point-to-points for some very notorious hunts. According to the British Horseracing Society, Point-to-Point Steeple Chases are for horses owned and ridden by members of an affiliated Hunt. A fixture can either be arranged by a Hunt or group of Hunts. Hunting’s ‘friendly face’ they often feature a dog show and are recruiting vehicles for hunts. As Gloucester Races puts it, “the Point-to-Point provides a great opportunity for the hunt to say thank you to the farmers and landowners whose land they cross throughout the year. It’s the hunts [sic] way of ‘putting a little bit back’.” A handy ‘About Us‘ section on the Garthorpe website says, “There are currently five race-days each year. The three hunts whose countries abut in Melton — the Belvoir, Cottesmore and Quorn — are each invited to organise one race-day. An adjacent hunt, currently the Meynell and South Staffordshire, is also invited to do so. The MHC itself also organises its own race-day.”  Those sentences confirm that point-to-points are built around keeping hunts in the public eye.