As if winning multiple Olympic gold medals wasn’t enough, cyclist Victoria Pendleton is switching sport for a new challenge – competing in a National Hunt race.
Challenge
Victoria has teamed up with Betfair with the aim of competing at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival. The plan is for the 34-year-old to line up in the Foxhunters Chase, a race for amateur jockeys held on the Friday of the Festival. The 3m 2f race is known as the ‘Gold Cup for amateur riders’, and features 22 steeplechase obstacles.
She has less than a year to get to grips with race riding, having never sat ona horse before. But she does have some of the best help available to her, including lessons from Yogi Breisner, eventer Chris King and champion trainer Paul Nicholls.
And she won’t be thrown in at the deep end – the plan is for her to master the basics and ride in point-to-points before tackling the Foxhunters.
Imagination
“I’ve been looking for a new and exciting challenge,” Victoria told Betfair. “When Betfair approached me about the opportunity to train to become a licensed amateur jockey, it captured my imagination.”
Twitter has been awash with the news, with sports presenter Clare Balding tweeting: “Best of luck to @v_pendleton as she switches saddles from Olympic cyclist to amateur jockey. It’ll be a fascinating transformation.”