IT IS somewhat ironic that the 2005 Point-to-Point fixture list should receive official approval during the week that the House of Lords starts debating the second reading of the Governments Hunting Bill.

The proposed use of the Parliament Act could have serious repercussions for the sport in the future but in the meantime lets enjoy 2005.

West Midland area meetings have tended to become concentrated over the Easter holiday period during the past five years and that has not been conducive to providing owners, trainers and riders with a balanced programme.

This undue bias around a particularly busy period in the racing calendar resulted in an early season famine, followed by a glut of meetings in the middle and another famine at the end. This problem has been rectified and should be of benefit to all concerned.

The Harkaway Club moved to a February date last year and this proved very popular and is repeated in 2005 with Chaddesley Corbett hosting the first West Midland meeting on Saturday, February 12.

The Duke of Beaufort's Point-to-Point at Didmarton is always staged on the first Saturday in March and this year's meeting takes place on March 5.

Flexibility

The Cotswold meeting at Andoversford is usually run in early April but, with its location high on the Cotswold escarpment, this well-draining course provides its organisers with the flexibility to move to a much earlier date in the calendar.

This in turn has provided a far greater balance to the programme in the West Mid-lands and the new date is Sunday, March 13 - the weekend prior to Chelten-ham's National Hunt Festival.

There is a familiar look for Easter weekend with the North Cotswold meeting at Paxford due to take place on Monday, March 28, while the Croome and West Warwick-shire fixture takes place at Ryalls Court, Upton-upon-Severn on the next day.

The Cotswold Vale Farmers transferred their meeting to Andoversford this year and will continue at the venue.

Entries were thin on the ground last year, which indicates that the move didn't receive universal approval so they will be hoping to get a better response for next year's meeting on Sunday, April 10.

The Lady Dudley Cup takes place during the Worcester-shire meeting at Chaddesley Corbett on Saturday, April 16 while the same venue stages Albrighton Woodland's traditional end of season finale on Monday, May 30.