Andrew and Avebury on their way to a historic third win at Burghley
Andrew Nicholson is one of the twelve riders to be selected to ride in the 2015 St Patrick's Derby charity race at Cheltenham, the home of jump racing in the UK
The charity Flat race is open to any amateur rider who feel they can raise the required amount of at least £5,000 in sponsorship and can provide their own mount that must have run at least twice under the recognised Rules of Racing. This year the number of applications was significantly up for the contest over a mile and five furlongs on the flat which takes place on the third day of The Festival, St Patrick's Thursday, March 12, 2015
Cheltenham Racecourse's chosen charity for 2015 is the Injured Jockeys Fund and the 12 riders selected are a mix of well-known people in the racing world and others keen to take part - Clifford Baker, Lucy Charnock, Simon Clare, Phillip Clark, James Collins, Jonathan Mills, Olive Murphy, Andrew Nicholson, Hayley O'Connor, Emily Scott, Mike Symons and Thomas Williams
Andrew, who has a strong connection with local (to Cheltenham) trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies for whom he schools horses, says “In another life I would have loved to have been a jump jockey and riding at the Cheltenham Festival, the home of jump racing, is the closest I’m going to get to this dream! At my age, you need to take the opportunities whilst they’re there and what better charity to do it for than the Injured Jockeys Fund as I have the most enormous respect for jockeys. I’m looking forward to the training for the race, but not to shedding two stone!”
In 2012 fellow eventer Tina Cook, who also has close connections to racing, won the St Patrick’s Derby just prior to winning silver at the London Olympics. While both Andrew and Tina have considerable skills at high speed on a horse, others taking part have a ‘crash’ course ahead of them, if you’ll excuse the pun. Mike Symons, Chairman of the Melbourne Racing Club and owner of star Australian Jump horses Some Are Bent and Black And Bent, only began riding in 2014 but has thrown his hat into the ring and will prepare for the St Patrick's Derby at Willie Mullins' yard in Ireland. Another brave man is Simon Clare, PR & Broadcast Director for Coral bookmakers who has almost no riding experience but is currently embarking on an extensive tuition programme. Fitness is no problem for Simon, having completed two London Marathons and the Three Peaks Challenge, but we wonder what odds he would give himself?
