THE Grand National may have been the focus of the country's sporting attention at the weekend, but in North Yorkshire not all eyes were on Aintree alone.

More than 7,000 spectators attended a traditional county social and sporting event to chance a bet upon their favourite racehorse.

The Middleton Point-to-Point race got off to a flying start at Whitwell-on-the-Hill and saw crowds of visitors braving the bracing wind.

Fans stood on the hillside charting the races in the fields below through binoculars, while stewards watched from a farm trailer.

Thousands of pro-hunt campaigners turned up to watch the hounds being paraded before the races.

Event organisers were anticipating a healthy profit - and at one point seemed likely to get an unexpected boost.

When our reporter and photographer arrived to record the event, car park attendants asked both for a £25 entrance fee. We were eventually allowed in free. Frank Houghton Brown, master of the Middleton Hunt, said it was encouraging to see support for hunting had not deteriorated.

He said: "We have always had a great attendance at the point-to-point. It raises a lot of money for the hunt and we give away 500 free events tickets to farmers who let us hunt on their land."

David Brotherton, landowner and chairman of the panel of stewards, said the event had been held at Whitwell-on-the-Hill since 1929.

He said: "All the horses that run in the point-to-point have to qualify with a local hunt. People seemed to enjoy themselves, but it was a shame it was such a bitterly cold day. There were plenty of races and quite a few close finishes."

Tommy Elder, the oldest living jockey to have ridden in the Grand National, was disappointed in his bid to get to Aintree this year.

We reported on Friday how Tommy, 93, of Easingwold, was keen to get to the race.

But in the end he had to be content with watching the race on TV.

Updated: 11:27 Monday, April 07, 2003