The 12 amateur jockeys taking part in a charity horse race in York have been revealed.
They will take place in the Macmillan Ride of their Lives at the 53rd Macmillan Charity Raceday on Saturday, June 15.
The riders are expected to raise at least £4,000 each for Macmillan Cancer Support as they prepare for the race in front of thousands of spectators.
Amelia Thornton-Berry, 30, and Charlotte Lawson, 42, will represent York in the race while Adam Alderson, 44, hails from Leyburn.
Alice McCullagh, 32, is a nursery manager from Osmotherley near Northallerton.
Two of her friends were diagnosed with cancer this year and her grandfather died of a brain tumour.
Alice said supporting Macmillan – one of Britain's largest charities supporting people affected by cancer – through horse riding was "really important" to her.
“I’ve ridden all of my life – mostly through show jumping,” she explained.
“Although I rode in the Shetland Pony Grand National when I was 10-years-old, so I have some race experience!
“I’m super competitive and I really want to do as well as I can.
“The training’s going to be tough but I don’t want to let anyone down. I can’t wait to ride down the line at the racecourse and raise as much money as possible for Macmillan.”
Alice will be joined by Antonia Hutchinson, 31 and Charlotte Russell, 41 both from Malton.
The eldest participant is 60-year-old Karl Avison, a farmer, also from near Malton. He is the first Ride of their Lives participant to take part twice, after previously riding in 2019.
“It’s an amazing experience so I’m delighted to be invited back,” Karl said.
“I wanted to do it again because I was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year. I had a major operation and blood tests a few weeks ago and it’s untraceable, so that’s great.
“I tried to get fit before my operation and that helped my recovery – so hopefully training for this race will help me too. I’ve pledged to raise £25,000. It’s a big goal but I’ll keep going until I reach it.”
Joining Karl is the race’s youngest participant, Louis Pern, 18, from Helmsley.
Louis, an event rider, said: “It’s a great opportunity to raise money for a great cause. It’s a challenge for all of us but something I’m looking forward to.
“I know several people who’ve got a connection to cancer – I just want to raise as much as I can to help as many people as I can.
“I’ve ridden all my life – never a racehorse – but confident my age doesn’t make any difference. We’re all in it for the same reasons.”
They’ll be joined by another Yorkshire participant, Camilla Parsonage, 48, who will represent Beverley, Gaynor Watts, 56, from Leicestershire, Hermione Drummond-Morray, 29, from Newmarket and Pippa Harvey, 35, from Warwickshire.
Megan Hayman-Tansley, regional fundraising manager at Macmillan Cancer Support, said the charity was “so appreciative” of the 12 jockeys putting themselves forward for the event.
“It takes a lot of courage and dedication to sign up for a challenge of this magnitude. We can’t wait to work with the riders to raise as much money as possible for people living with and affected by cancer,” she said.
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Megan explained that the money will help the charity invest in future initiatives to support its work.
Anthea Leigh, racing manager and Raceday clerk of the course at York Racecourse, added: “We were delighted that last year’s Macmillan Charity Raceday celebrated the milestone of over £10m raised for Macmillan and other local charities since its inception.
“The Macmillan Ride of Their Lives riders have an exciting challenge ahead of them, and we hope their fundraising efforts will lead to even more being raised in 2024.”
Tickets for the race are available on York Racecourse’s website.
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