Racing: Bangor to stage two points fixtures next year

The Sir W W Wynn's and the Flint and Denbigh, the two hunts which used to race at Eaton Hall, near Chester, will transfer their once-a-year fixtures to Bangor on 27 February and 2 April respectively. The Eaton Hall course, opened in 1963, is now closed.

Edward Gretton, the Bangor-on-Dee clerk of the course, said: "We started work on a grass course on the inside of the track in 2004. It will be about one mile and three furlongs and right-handed as opposed to the jump course which is left-handed. With the amount of racing that courses are being asked to stage these days it is possible the new circuit could eventually be used for jump racing."

Several NH courses have been used for point-to-pointing, but many in the sport regard it is another step towards severing the links with hunting. Next year's point-to-point season starts on 2 January.