Victoria Pendleton: I loved my first race but the hard work continues

Editor
03 July 2015

Victoria aboard Mighty Mambo in the parade ring

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Victoria made her racecourse debut at Newbury on Thursday night as she took a major step towards her goal of riding in the Foxhunters' Chase at Cheltenham. And she loved it! Check out her reaction, along with an exclusive video from the day...

"Although I've learnt so much already, today has shown me that there's plenty more hard work ahead if I'm to achieve my goal of riding at the Cheltenham Festival next year."

Riding the Lawney Hill-trained Mighty Mambo in the 1m 5f George Frewer Charity Race, Victoria finished eighth of 11 in a large bunch, just a couple of lengths behind the third placed horse. Britain's most successful female Olympian showed plenty of promise to complete a major milestone in her ambitious mission.

Though aware of all the hard work still to come Victoria was thrilled by the experience.

"I loved it," she said.

"It's been an amazing four months since I first partnered with Betfair on my journey to become an amateur jockey. Being a part of this race gave me a huge thrill and to have got this far is an incredibly proud moment for myself and those who have helped me along the way, particularly Yogi Briesner and Alan and Lawney Hill.

"That said, I'm actually slightly cross with myself in the way I started the race. Mighty Mambo finished really strongly and had I been closer up sooner, you never know where we might have finished. Although I've learnt so much already, today has shown me that there's plenty more hard work ahead if I'm to achieve my goal of riding at the Cheltenham Festival next year."