THE starter lowered his flag and got the first meeting of the Yorkshire area point-to-point season underway at Sheriff Hutton on Sunday.

Ground conditions were soft underfoot but the course held up surprisingly well given the heavy rainfall.

The members race got the jumping action underway at noon and heralded a win for Elusive Swallow in the hands of Jacqui Coward. Trained by Lucinda Atkinson, Elusive Swallow relished the cut in the ground and scored a six-length victory ahead of Sportingfriendship, the mount of Harry Bannister, to secure the Chris Hoggard Memorial Trophy for her owner Michael Broad.

Mister Spodge, trained locally by Sarah Brotherton, ran on well under jockey Colm McCormack to secure victory in the Restricted race when finishing six lengths ahead of Dead Ringa, the mount of Emma Todd.

Nine starters lined up for the Ladies Open Race which went the way of bookies’ favourite Palypso De Creek. The 10-year-old bay gelding stays well and likes the soft ground.

He was expertly guided home by jockey Claire Hart 12 lengths clear of last year’s winner, the top-class hunter chaser Amicelli, trained at Scackleton by Cherry Coward and ridden by Jacqui Coward.

King Penda made a smooth transition from rules to pointing, under Shane Marriott, and delivered a bold bid in a battle to the line to secure victory by a neck ahead of Galant Nuit in the Members Race for Novice Riders. King Penda won over fences for the Walford team at Sedgefield in 2011 prior to making his pointing debut this season.

The Men’s Open was a high-class affair. However the one to beat proved to be the David Easterbytrained Classinaglass, the mount of Tom Greenall. The exciting six-yearold gelding followed up on last year’s win at this meeting when securing a one-length victory over Hennessy, the mount of Rees Morgan Murphy, and it will be interesting to see how far this young horse will progress.

The Open Maiden was split into two divisions to accommodate the high number of entries. Division one went the way of the bookies’ favourite Port Golan, trained by David Easterby. The well-fancied mount of jockey Harry Bannister finished strongly, clinching a two-length victory ahead of Nalim and Harriett Bethell. Division two concluded the day’s racing and heralded a win for jockey Guy Brewer on board Bollin Line, trained by Lucy Egerton.

The results were as follows:

Club Members Conditions Race: 1 Elusive Swallow (Jacque Coward), 2 Sportingfriend ship (Harry Bannister), 3 Bear Witness (Max Johnson)

Restricted Race: 1 Mister Splodge (Colm McCormack), 2 Dead Ringa (Emma Todd), 3 Oaklands Robbie (Russell Linsey), 4 Croan Rock (Nick Slatter)

Ladies Open: 1 Palypso De Creek (Claire Hart), 2 Amicelli (Jacque Coward), 3 Kildonnan (Freya Brewer), 4 Sea Scout (Claire Metcalfe)

Members Race for Novice Riders: 1 King Penda (Shane Marriott), 2 Galant Nuit (Rees Morgan Murphy), 3 Kiestown Chief (Gemma Garton), 4 Desert Tommy (Lucy Egerton)

Men’s Open: 1 Classinaglass (Tom Greenall), 2 Hennessy (Rees Morgan Murphy), 3 Be There In Five (William Easterby), 4 Theatre Dance (Fred Bethell)

Open Maiden (Div 1): 1 Port Golan (Harry Bannister), 2 Nalim (Harriet Bethell), 3 Darnborough (C Walton), 4 Mighty Magnus (Philip Dennis)

Open Maiden (Div 2): 1 Bollin Line (Guy Brewer), 2 Danebrook Lad (G. Crow), 3 Willofhisown (Andrew Richardson), 4 Moscow Menace (Tom Hamilton)