A record 5000 punters flocked to Crossford's Overton Farm for point to point!

“We had between 4000 and 5000 people there which was a record attendance,” said farm owner Willie Young, who has hosted the annual Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and Eglinton event for 15 years.“I’m quite pleased with that. It was a good day and that’s what it’s all about.“The weather was fine. If we’d staged the meeting 24 hours later then we’d have got rain.“But we couldn’t have had any better than we did on Saturday.”The popularity of the event will again have race fans wondering if Overton should have a permanent racetrack, offering all weather racing north of the border.The idea was considered a few years ago, but shelved due to various reasons including high estimated overall construction costs of around £5 million.“I don’t think a permanent racetrack would work,” Willie said.“I don’t think it will happen for various reasons, including the fact that nobody has come up with the spondulix (money).“Years ago it used to be the case that Wolverhampton was the nearest all weather track to Scotland, but Newcastle has one now and that’s not too far to travel.”Willie admitted that it’s becoming more and more difficult to attract good quality horses to point to point, with the high entry costs involved (around £500 per horse) dwarfing the maximum first place prizemoney of £200.But he said he was pleased with the quality of horse which attended on a day of high excitement for punters, who relished some close finishes among the three kids’ pony races and seven main races of between two-and-a-half and three miles.Roll on next year!