The St Patrick’s Day Derby, pharm the charity race run annually at The Festival on the Thursday of the meeting, cialis looks set to raise more than £150,000 for the Injured Jockeys Fund.
“We are up to £145,000 so far and the total is rising by the minute,” said Sarah Oliver, chief executive of the Amateur Jockeys Association, which supports the race, on Thursday morning.
The race has been run in aid of Cancer Research for the past five years and has raised £1.2million for the charity, but the Injured Jockeys Fund is the recipient of this year’s funds.
“It’s going to be a fantastic race and should be really competitive,” said Oliver. “We have to say a huge thank you to everyone who has sponsored the 12 riders, and to the trainers and owners who have lent them horses for the race.”
Paddy Power have installed Rainy City, ridden by Paul Nicholls’ head lad Clifford Baker, as joint-favourite at 7/4 along with Knight’s Parade, whose jockey James Collins was champion conditional jockey in Ireland in 1989.
Third favourite at 7/1 is Golden Jubilee, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and ridden by eventer Andrew Nicholson, who has represented New Zealand at six Olympic Games and who has won Burghley Horse Trials on five occasions.
Outsider of the field at 33/1 is Coral PR director Simon Clare, who is riding Lexington Bay. Clare had never ridden a horse until last September. His fellow representative of the bookmaking world, Ladbrokes’ Hayley O’Connor, rides 16/1 shot Hurricane Ridge.