One of the biggest point-to-point events in the country has been cancelled due to a lack of horses.

Organisers had spent six months preparing for the Easter Saturday meeting at Charing and were looking forward to welcoming thousands of spectators.

But their hard work has come to nothing and instead they are left counting the cost of the cancellation.

Forty entries were needed to make the meeting viable but by yesterday’s closing date, numbers had dropped to 14.

Half of those were in the ladies’ race, leaving seven to cover the other four scheduled races. “It’s just not enough,” said a committee spokesman.

“We did try to fill the event with a bird of prey display, terrier racing, a dog show, a fun fair, a shopping village, a beer tent and all that, but you can’t put on a racing day with no racing.

“People wanted it to go ahead but we made a decision to pull the plug, which is a shame because so much work has gone into it, and the Jockey Club advised us to cancel as well when we got the numbers in.

“A new committee had taken over the point-to-point event itself, so we started with a blank canvas.

“We had to get sponsors, we tried to up the prize money and offered to refund horse entry money on the day, we tried so much, but it just hasn’t worked.

“Charing is a huge event in point-to-point racing, one of the biggest on the calendar.

"Being Easter and the first holiday after Christmas, people want to come out.

“But there’s a meeting in Essex on Friday, we were Saturday and there’s Aldington on Monday, so the fixtures are too close together and there aren’t the horses in the south east.

“If you go to East Anglia and up to Leicestershire, they’ve got 14, 15, 16 runners in a race. We just don’t have the horses to do that.

"It’s to do with the ground conditions as well. Because Charing is on a chalk-based course, it drains quite quickly.

“It’s in fantastic condition, the going’s good at the moment, good to firm in places, but with the forecast for the next couple of days, that will dry it out.

“We were going to aerate it again but people won’t run their horses if the ground’s firm.”

The cost of cancelling the event runs into thousands, while big numbers of spectators are also left disappointed.

“We’ve ploughed a lot of money into it,” said the spokesman.

“All different things cost, it’s not a cheap event to put on.

“I don’t know how much we’ve lost off the top of my head but it’s thousands.

“I feel for the team who have worked so hard - it’s a kick in the teeth for them.

“It’s the best-attended point-to-point event in the country, it’s huge.

“This would have been our first one since 2019 (because of Covid) and there’d have been thousands of people.

“You’ve got your avid race fans and those who come for a picnic and a day out. It’s such a shame.

“We’ve got sponsors to deal with, there were 55-60 trade stands with the shopping village, and the team are going through all those, contacting everybody.

“It’s not just the organisers, there’s a knock-on effect for everybody, the trade stands, the hospitality, the beer tent, the pubs, the farmers, even the children in the pony club, who had been practising for their demonstrations.

“There’s so much involved, it’s a massive community event for that area.”

The future of Charing’s Easter meeting appears uncertain.

One possibility next year is to move the date in the hope more horses will be available.

“I think we’re going to struggle for Easter,” said the spokesman. “I don’t know what we’re going to do.

“We may change the date, and see if that makes any difference, but it’s all about the runners and ground conditions.

“We may still do Easter in future and look at a country fair-type thing and have horse displays, we just don’t know at the moment.

“We’ve got to have a look at it and see what’s viable.”