The opening day of the South East region's 2014 point-to-point season, due to take place at Charing near Ashford on Sunday week, has already been called off due to a waterlogged course.

The course has been flooded recently, and the organisers of the South East Hunts Club meeting decided to make an early decision in view of more heavy rain predicted over the next few days.

The new date is the following Sunday, March 2.

The closure of the West Street Tickham hunt and the loss of two other meetings has meant a later start than usual for South East enthusiasts, with the feature event, the Kent Grand National, usually staged in January, put back until April.

Two-time winner Freddies Return, ridden by Surrey based trainer-jockey Phil York (right), won at Charing last year, repeating the horse's 2011 success at Detling near Maidstone.