SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Victoria Pendleton Britain’s most successful female Olympian ever, is set to make her racing debut at 5.55 Newbury flat mile this Thursday 2 July
Teaming up with up Betfair, Pendleton gave the UK media an update on her goal to race in the Cheltenham Festival in March 2016. The two time Olympic Gold medallist stated that she felt confident of riding at Cheltenham 2016, however she advised punters “not to back me”.
Trained by Lawney Hill and mentored by legendary racing trainer Paul Nicholls, Pendleton stated that her Objective for the Newbury flat mile was to “ride safely and not to look horribly outclassed as a novice in silks”.
“I’m not going in with the idea that it’s win or bust. I just want it to be cool. There will be plenty of races between now at Cheltenham that I will want to win.
“But even to qualify, and come under starter’s orders at Cheltenham, would be like a win for me.But there are a lot of jumps to clear before we even reach that point – qualifying to be a jockey is astonishingly hard.”
Pendleton who has been training at the British Racing School in Newmarket, passing racing assessments in order to meet racing conditions for Cheltenham 2016. Speaking on her partnership with Betfair Pendleton said
“When Betfair first approached me about this project, I took one look at it and thought it was crazy – but then I looked again and thought, ‘It’s crazy… but I’d quite like to do it.’
Pendleton’s progress has been recorded by Betfair as she approaches her Cheltenham debut
