To true Nass. The only person in our family to have lived and breathed horses is my daughter. My wife did have a pony as a kid and rode a bit (nothing serious) but none of her family had been near a horse and none of mine had (except my dad was in a regiment where he had to learn). I've never ridden a horse, apart from fun rides, certainly never jumped. Yet my daughter became ranked no 1 in the UK in 138 ponies and (since the age of 9) represented GB on 138cm and subsequently 148cm ponies and also on horses. Everyone has to start somewhere. If you have the desire, determination and guts then go for it. Nothing would please me more if VP won or got placed at Cheltenham, or even got round safely. Those born into it get a mile start and that's what us amateurs are up against. Success is so much sweeter though.
According to which report you read Ms Pendlebury is being paid between £200,000 and £250,000 for this 'project' which, on its current terms, ends in just over 11 days time. I really can see a week on Friday the CGC being a mere 'sideshow' to this farce.
At The Races @AtTheRaces 3m3 minutes ago BREAKING: Confirmed that Olympic champion @v_pendleton will ride Pacha Du Polder in the Foxhunters at Cheltenham.
Was never in doubt. If she doesn't she won't get the full amount re her contract. It's all for money. Nothing else.
The only people who see her ride as a greater attraction than the GC are people who wouldn't have otherwise been interested in Cheltenham at all. What's your problem with her Barney?
Nass, the best that she can ever hope for is 2nd place. And I rather suspect she is some way of that position. Personally, I can not see why she just couldn't have gone down the 'Labour Exchange' and got a job like everyone else. When her bike riding career ended. Rather than boring the entire world with this farce.
I agree that she is most unlikely to win. In fact I'm so confident, I'd be happy to lay VP all day long.
Here's my take on this story. I personally don't think she should be any where near this race, I think it's come to soon for her. I admire her courage and determination, but it's just to dangerous for someone with so little experience. I also like the idea of running in the race and what it will do for the profile of the sport but if it all goes wrong she gets badly in juried or someone else gets injured or the horses get injured, the negatives far outweigh the positives. This is a very dangerous sport and she's had the best backing and training there is and these people should wrestle with their consciences. L also feel sorry for all those people in the hunting ptp sphere who spend their whole career trying to get a ride or a horse good enough to compete in this race it must leave a bitter taste. These are the true Corinthians of this sport.
It is a risk. But I've seen some crap riders allowed to race. How they ever got a licence is beyond me. I just hope there are no male riders going out of their way to have her off.
New story breaking - Haley Turner has set a target of riding for the GB cycling team at the Brazil Olympics. Unfortunately her first efforts didn't go as well as planned and involved a lot of falling off so the team have delayed taking the stabilizers off until April.
I really don't see why people have such a problem with her riding, why shouldn't she be allowed to give it a go. The fact that she's a 'celebrity' might have some peoples backs up but its put her in a position where she can have a go at something that she's clearly very serious and passionate about. I'm sure she's fully aware of the risks involved but she's been given an opportunity that any aspiring jockey would love to have and i for one wish her the very best regardless of who she is or what she did in her previous career.
Smokey, my problem is its to dangerous. Horse racing is a very unpredictable sport and if something goes wrong it could do a lot of damage to the sport. Either way there will be a lot of media interest.
My take is really one of utter indifference. If she fancies it and someone wants to pay her for the publicity she will bring them then it's just more business taking place. If it were for her love of it I am sure there would be less urgency and fast tracking going on and she would be pacing herself more gently. There is of course a possibility that she could hurt another during the race but in reality the odds are against it, and if she hurts herself then that's down to her and part and parcel of her exercising ambition in this urgent way. I hope she uses her common sense and starts at the back well out of trouble so if she falls off again she is out of harms way, should she find herself in contention once the field has thinned out then by all means go for home and hope for the best. If she wins good for her and I am sure racing will get a few more pages exposure the next day and a glamorous new poster girl, if she falls off then at least all those unheard of amateurs will quite rightly be able to say ' see it's not as easy as it looks is it'.
