A MESSAGE TO ALL OWNERS RIDERS AND KEEPERS FROM ROBERT KILLEN, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE
POINT TO POINT OWNERS AND RIDERS ASSOCIATION
I am writing these notes after a great weekends racing across the country albeit in pretty awful weather
conditions. Our sport seems in fine fettle and let’s hope the rest of the season is as good.
I have been dismayed that a number of fixture secretaries have reported that their gate people have had
issues with owners, riders and keepers regarding entry to meetings. I am therefore writing to remind all
owners, jockeys and keepers about what we as participants can expect from the fixtures and what the fixtures
can expect from us as participants.
Firstly manners! As a sport we must ensure that we maintain a standard of good manners at all levels. I would
ask that we all give the volunteers who run our meetings the respect they deserve. We should of course expect
courtesy and understanding in return. Point-to-Pointing can be mighty stressful for everyone who is involved
so let’s all work together.
Secondly here are some ground rules on what participants should expect in relation to entry on the day to a
Point-to-Point fixture:
 JOCKEYS – A Riders Qualification Certificate entitles the bearer and one other to free admittance to
any Point-to-Point in the UK. Please make sure that you have your certificate ready for presentation
at the gate. Additional occupants will have to pay for entry.
 OWNERS – Owners passes are sent out by the Point-to-Point Racing Company or the fixture secretary
following the close of entries. These should be received a day or so before the meeting and will be
sent to the address as directed at entry. The number of passes sent is as directed by the fixture but
commonly would be a car pass or two individual tickets. The arrangements in Wales are different
where car passes are not sent out. I would suggest that if there are any issues with passes then a
simple telephone call in advance of the meeting to the fixture secretary is the best route to sort the
problem rather than leave it to the day.
 SYNDICATES – at present syndicates are treated in the same way as individual owners and will only
receive the same number of passes. Sadly fixtures, whilst they would like to, cannot send a pass to
every syndicate member. It is therefore up to each syndicate to make arrangements to suit them with
the passes that are made available.
 KEEPERS – Keepers are an important part of the process. Can I ask that Keepers many of who make
the entries ensure that their owners are properly briefed and receive the entry passes in a timely
fashion.
 E TICKETING – more and more fixtures are sending passes on an e ticketing system. It is possible that
fixtures will make arrangements to send passes out to owners who do not have access to e mail.
Remember these can only be scanned once and if you have the right ticket!
 RACECARDS – it is up to individual fixtures to give or not to give free race cards to participants. There
is no protocol although it is encouraged.
It would be great to be able to give out passes without restriction but we have to balance the level of entry
fees with the number of passes and ensure that our fixtures are sustainable.
These things are all high on my agenda. The PPA Board, PPSA and PPORA are always looking at how we can
improve these arrangements and we welcome any ideas that you might have. We must look at how we can
give our participants the best possible welcome and experience and your views are important.
I trust that these notes are helpful and I hope that I can count on everyone’s co-operation.