Goodwood: Celebrities Ladies Race

[Glimmerglass]

To be held this Thursday (July 28), and perhaps aired on TVG/HRTV, will be this charity flat track 6-furlong race at Glorious Goodwood (UK) to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital. The riders are an assortment of models, personalities and even an Olympic Team dressage rider.

Telegraph July 26, 2011 "From catwalk to racetrack, the supermodel hoping to ride to victory "

excerpt on Burberry’s current “face” Edie Campbell among the entries

Edie Campbell, supermodel of the moment, will switch her stilettos for stirrups and jodhpurs, when she bids to become a champion jockey.

Miss Campbell, 20, will compete in the first ever all ladies race at the Glorious Goodwood festival on the Earl of March’s estate in Sussex Downs.

Riding a world-class race horse trained by George Baker, Miss Campbell will gallop at breakneck speed for six furlongs on her mount, also called George Baker, which is used to having the more expert jockey of Frankie Dettori at the reins.

“I completely underestimated what a difficult challenge it would be,” said Miss Campbell, a keen rider, who keeps her own horse at her family home in Warwickshire.

Other riders taking part include Sara Cox, the Radio One disc jockey, Laura Bechtolsheimer, the British Olympic medal-winning dressage rider and Kate Reardon, the editor of Tatler magazine.

Miss Reardon will ride Grand Piano, a four-year-old gelding trained by Andrew Balding.

She said: “Grand pianos aren’t known for their aerodynamic qualities so I wanted to change his name so Scared Witless, which is how I feel.”

“For the first time in my life, I have managed to get fit, so if I fall off, it may be from ineptitude, but hopefully it won’t be from exhaustion.”

Riders will be accompanied by celebrity grooms including Elizabeth Hurley and television presenters Kate Silverton and Natalie Pinkham. They will wear customised designer silks by fashion houses including Hermes and Issa.

Also in the race: polo player Claire Milford Haven, Channel 4 racing presenter Emma Spencer, Tatler editor Kate Reardon, racing driver and wife of Pink Floyd drummer Nick, Annette Mason

[Cammie]

Yikes. Sounds like a potentially scary race! I’m sure they all have decent riding experience of some sort, but going out on real racehorses at full tilt with no prior racing experience?? :eek:

Amazed the owners of the horses are game for it.

[Toadie_s_mom]

Yikes is right:eek: Looks like it’s only going to be on HRTV and I’ve got the DVR all set. Bechtolsheimer is a fabulous rider, but I hope they’ve all been working out like Campbell says she’s been!

[Drvmb1ggl3]

Here’s a video piece on DJ Sara Cox galloping at Walter Swinburn’s yard and getting ready for the race.
Looks like her mount is fairly bomb proof, I wonder if all horses were chosen with that in mind or if she got lucky.

6f races at Goodwood are on the straight course, so no turns… thankfully.

Btw, there is no betting on the race as far as I can tell.

[Cammie]

Here’s a video piece on DJ Sara Cox galloping at Walter Swinburn’s yard and getting ready for the race.

Yeesh. I sure hope someone teaches her to grab some mane! And how to bridge her reins. That is a remarkably patient horse to put up with her posting the gallop and using his mouth for balance. I’m sure all of the horses are considered “easy” to gallop and are level-headed, but with an entire field of scared to death novice jockeys who have never been at a full gallop in a group before? I would NOT want to be a part of that!

[Cammie]

Video

Amazingly, only one celebrity fell off and it was after the finish.

http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/glorious-goodwood-model-edie-campbell-waltzes-to-victory-in-charity-race/891451/

The model won quite handily. I can imagine the confusion those horses all had with such green riders! :lol:

[Glimmerglass]

[QUOTE=Cammie;5744014]
Yikes. Sounds like a potentially scary race! I’m sure they all have decent riding experience of some sort, but going out on real racehorses at full tilt with no prior racing experience?? :eek:

Amazed the owners of the horses are game for it.[/QUOTE]

I’ll give you one better - this is a 1980’s photo Saratoga Race Course the caption from The Times Union (newspaper) themselves:

Yes, they actually used to have a media race at the annual Open House at the Spa. Bad idea. Real thoroughbreds that could really run. It’s amazing no one got killed. This photo was taken sometime in the 1980s. (Times Union Archives)

Image breaking from the gate - at least 11 horses - no helmets

[Cammie]

The fourth horse from the left looks like a paint, so maybe they used pony horses instead. :lol:

Good grief. Still utterly insane that anyone would consider it to be a good idea- even on non-racehorses! Owners, trainers, the track itself…and especially the nutty volunteer riders- how can anyone think this would be safe enough to try? I can imagine the coronaries the insurance executives must have had when the charity rider fell off at Goodwood.

Still find it astounding that Saratoga in the 1980’s thought it would be a great idea, much less Goodwood in 2011 ! :eek: