Ladies Championship is reaching an exciting climax ahead of our grand finale at Stratford as AGA go sponsorship crazy with Irish Pointing and Pony Racing Finals next on the agenda

I love point-to-point racing, but you probably already know that! I'm also really excited about the next four weeks, because not only will they be action packed and exciting, but they will also potentially define our season. First on the agenda we have five AGA qualifiers, plus three additional point scoring races (introduced to replace the 3 qualifiers we have lost), so that's a whopping 176 points still up for grabs ... including the 10 in the photo below!

It's also worth remembering that nobody can score more than 50 points as only the best five scores will count, plus there are double points available in the final. What does this mean? Well, if you get to Stratford with 30 or more points then you're definitely in the game, so you will see that there are still lots of lady riders in the running to win a brand new AGA cooker! Who's your money on?

Next on the agenda is a trip across the water for the Tattersalls International Point-to-Point Festival on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th May. AGA are sponsoring the AGA 6-Y-O & upwards Mares 'Claiming' Maiden (Lady Riders), which will see a team of 4 top UK lady riders take on 4 lady riders from Ireland. A strong team has been selected by the Point-to-Point Authority and they will all be familiar names to anyone who follows the AGA series.

L-R former National Champion Gina Andrews (equal 4th in the AGA table) will be on the plane, Yorkshire is represented by Jacqueline Coward - the current leader in the Lady Riders National Championship (she is also the reigning AGA series champion). The reigning AGA Total Control champion Claire Hart is rather excited to be going, as is the reigning National Champion Jane Williams, and rumour has it that all four of them are looking forward to the party on the Friday evening! (which is also being sponsored by AGA).

We're really looking forward to some Irish pointing - actually that sounds a bit lame, I'm dead excited and I can't wait! We're going to stay for both days and we'll be flying back with the girls on Saturday evening, the batteries will get a recharge on Sunday, and then we'll be finishing our season in style with our final two qualifiers on Bank Holiday Monday.

I like to get the odd strategically placed AGA sign (or two) into photos, and the same goes for AGA product, but you're probably wondering why I've included a photo of some little AGA cookers in this post. Simple, because we're also doing our bit to encourage the point-to-point jockeys of the future by sponsoring the "Little cookers of the future AGA Point-to-Point Pony Racing Championship Finals", including the RaceTech Novice Riders Series Final. The races will be held following the Meynell & South Staffordshire Point-to-Point at Garthorpe on Sunday, 2nd June 2013, and who knows, we may see a future champion jockey in action!

We've got some tremendous prizes lined up for our young winners, one of them could even be in the photo above, and we'll be having a bit of a party after the racing has finished (weather permitting), so put the date in your diary and come along for a great day out.

The fella in the photo above will be coming with us to record all of the action, and I've also heard that he will be taking his dancing shoes to Ireland - if Ryanair let him! He'll also be coming to Cothelstone for the Weston & Banwell meeting on Wednesday 15th May because the Ladies race there is one of our additional points races. Whoops I forgot to mention that one! It's not an AGA qualifier, so instead we will also be sponsoring the prize for the top scoring Rider on the night - not bad at all!

Smiling AGA boys can be seen every week at a point-to-point meeting near you, especially when they are being fed homemade pie by Mrs Andrews! We're also smiling because we love what we do, and we like meeting people who want to buy a new AGA - we met a few of them at Peper Harow, and we're looking forward to our final at Stratford racecourse on Friday 7th June. I'm ready for a holiday but still have LOADS of energy and enthusiasm left for our remaining qualifiers, Ireland & Stratford - see you there!