Crowds enjoy spring sunshine at point-to-point

Spring is finally in the air and crowds made the most of the good weather at Cazenove Capital Point-to-Point and Country Day at Lockinge, Oxfordshire.

Gold Cup champion

Around 9,000 people enjoyed a day of sport, which featured six races and two pony races. The daywas kicked off by a special appearance from the 2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner.

Coneygree wasn’t the only Gold Cup legend in attendance. Retired champion trainerHenrietta Knight, who produced three Gold Cup winners, made her return to point-to-point racing after 25 years. Her runnerPort Golan finished a close second in the mixed open.

Great day

The Easter Monday fixture, run by theOld Berkshire Huntdates back to 1830.

Richard Manners, chairman of the hunt’s point-to-point said: “This event is a very important fundraiser for the hunt and it’s fantastic to see so many enjoying a great day of horseracing in the Oxfordshire countryside.”

The successful jockeys included Fred Henderson,a history student at Newcastle university, who won the first two races, and Kate Derrick,a swimming teacher from Gloucestershire, who rode her first ever winner.