If Victoria Pendleton’s first ride as a fully fledged rider at Ripon last month was a day when almost everything went right, her second here on Tuesday was towards the other end of the spectrum but another step forward all the same. “It’s not about how many races I win between now and trying to qualify for [the] Cheltenham [Festival in March],” she said afterwards. “It’s about learning as much as possible from the whole experience and today was a good learning experience.”
Riding Royal Etiquette, the same horse that she had steered into a close second place at Ripon, Pendleton was slowly away from a wide draw and on the outside of a big field as they turned for home.
She made some ground at the top of the straight but was then sandwiched and bumped by an opponent on either side with just over two furlongs to run. Royal Etiquette was still travelling well enough at the time but the momentum lost there could not be retrieved and Pendleton’s mount faded to finish 13th of 16 behind the 20-1 chance Jan De Heem.
This was Pendleton’s first start against seasoned amateur opponents, and she was confident afterwards that it had been a valuable experience.
“I knew there would definitely be a lot to learn today, with a different calibre of riders and more experienced amateurs and a lot of us in the race,” she said. “It’s not always going to go your way, we had a really good ride at Ripon and that was beyond perhaps what we’d expected, so to expect a repeat performance in my mind was perhaps a little bit too much.
“I was really pleased with my positioning coming into the final straight but then there was a bit of bumping and we lost our rhythm and stride a bit, and therewasn’t enough time to pick up and regain the time we lost. Poor little Harry [Royal Etiquette] got bumped about a bit, we had a little Harry sandwich.”
The next significant step towards Pendleton’s long-term aim of a ride in the Foxhunters’ Chase on Gold Cup day at Cheltenham will be to ride competitively over fences for the first time. That must wait until the point-to-point season starts at the end of November, however, and it is possible she will have another ride on the Flat before then.
“I didn’t panic [when bumped]. It happened and we know it’s going to happen some more. I just have to be a little bit more aware next time,” she said. “I don’t know if I could have got out of the way anyway, but it’s part of the racing game and I’m used to being bumped around as a cyclist. It’s a bit different on a horse but heigh, ho.
“Just looking at the jockeys that were riding and the horses that were being ridden, and the general experience of talking to the people in the changing rooms, these are people who’ve raced many, many times and for many years, a lot of them. It wasn’t going to be a stroll in the park, not a cheeky charity novices’ race, it was going to be a little bit more serious.
Pendleton has already spent time schooling horses over obstacles at the stable of trainer Lawney Hill, who is an important part of the project, and enjoyed the experience so much that she is counting down the days until she can race over fences.
“I’ve really enjoyed schooling, it feels as though you’re flying,” she said. “If nothing else happens beyond this point, the fact that I’ve been able to school horses over hurdles and steeplechase fences, I feel blessed, because not many people get to do that in the world.
“It feels like you are actually flying through the air, such a beautiful feeling, I can’t really express it. The first time I did it, I got to the top and I was smiling so much all day that my cheeks hurt, I was thinking, I just want to do that again. It’s a wonderful feeling and doing it in a race is going to be incredible, the adrenalin is going to be amazing.”
Postponed, who appeared to be on course to run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe when successful in the Prix Foy at Longchamp nine days ago, will miss the race in Paris on 4 October, Roger Varian, the colt’s new trainer, said on Tuesday.
Postponed, winner of the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in July, is one of 35 horses owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid al-Maktoum that are due to leave Luca Cumani’s stable in Newmarket to be trained by Varian, his neighbour.
The news that the Sheikh was removing his horses from Cumani after a 20-year association caused widespread surprise when it emerged last week.
“The [Sheikh Obaid] horses are due to arrive next week and I can confirm Postponed will not run in the Arc,” Varian said on Tuesday. “I can’t really comment any further than that at this stage. The horses have not even joined us yet, so I’m not going to start making plans for them.”
Postponed, who had been quoted at around 20-1 to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, also holds an entry in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot on 17 October.
Ireland will stage 355 meetings in 2016, the same number as in 2015. The Irish Flat season will begin on 20 March, while the popular beach meeting at Laytown near Dublin will be staged on 13 September, a clash with the Listowel Festival.
“I am pleased that we have been able to retain the same overall number of fixtures for 2016,” Brian Kavanagh, the chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland, said on Tuesday.
“Irish racing still remains very competitive, with our average field size for the year to date at 10.6 runners per race and a pleasing increase on the Flat for entries, declarations and individual runners.”
