TRAGEDY marred an otherwise superb day's point-to-point racing at Eaton Hall when a riderless horse had to be destroyed after falling. Vets took the decision after Along The Lawn tumbled at the fourth fence at the Flint & Denbigh Hunt meeting near Chester. The horse bolted, crashing into a gate and breaking his pelvis. Jockey Alistair Crowe was knocked unconscious but was given the all-clear by doctors after arriving at hospital. It was the end to a bittersweet day for Alistair's mother, Hadnall trainer Sheila Crow, who one hour earlier had triumphed with Pristeen Spy in the Confined race to give jockey Richard Burton his 20th winner of the season. The Flint & Denbigh Hunt was delighted with the meeting, which attracted a crowd bordering on 10,000 to watch 148 entries, a 23pc increase on the corresponding fixture last year. An innovation this year was a Hunt Ride in which eight huntsmen - four each from the Wynnstay and the Flint & Denbigh - negotiated a circuit at Eaton dressed in traditional attire. Lucy Reed, wife of F&D Huntsman Jeremy Reed, said: "It was a throwback to the old style Members' Races when Hunt subscribers raced each other. It wasn't raced under Jockey Club rules - people said it reminded them how point-to-pointing used to be." The F&D took the honours, claiming three of the first four places. Eighteen-year-old jockey Sam DeGregory, of Kimnel Bay, winner of last year's Members' race, was first, overtaking longtime leader Peter Arnold, of Prestatyn, at the final fence. Another first came in the Members race when 18-year-old Natalie Lloyd, from Overton, recorded her maiden winner at the course on Star Change, trained by her father Steve. n The next point-to-point at Eaton Hall is the Wynnstay Hunt meeting on April 25. | 
