Victoria Pendleton made her reappearance on a racecourse a winning one in the Countryside Alliance’s charity race at Newmarket yesterday (23 June).
Riding the Lawney Hill-trained Royal Etiquette, Victoria, who lined up against seven other charity riders was delighted with the result: “It was amazing to win here today, and to be asked to take part in the race.”
“I hope the charity money raised will help many people access the countryside through the Countryside Alliance Foundation (TCAF) charities.
The TCAF administers three charities including Casting For Recovery, which offers healing fly-fishing retreats to ladies who have, or are recovering from breast cancer.
Victoria’s success follows news that a racehorse syndicate has also been named after her.
This week Highclere Thoroughbred Racing (HTR) announced it has launched nine syndicates named after well-known Olympians, who between them won 22 Olympic gold medals.
Sir Mark Todd is another equestrian representative on the list, which includes Sir Steve Redgrave, David Weir and Jessica Ennis-Hill.
Up to 20 shares will be available in each syndicate, and the horses are being trained by some of racing’s most prominent trainers including Sir Michael Stoute, John Gosden and Richard Hannon.
The syndicate horses will first be seen on a racecourse in 2017.
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Victoria said: “Horseracing and riding has become a real passion of mine so I am delighted to have a new Highclere syndicate in my name. I can’t wait to see how the horses progress over the next few years.”
The gold medal-winning Olympic cyclist made the headlines earlier this year when she finished in fifth place in the Foxhunter Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
As part of Betfair’s Switching Saddles Challenge, Victoria rode in her first ever charity race at Newbury on 2 July 2015, four months after she took on the challenge to switch from being a cyclist to become a jockey.
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