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Ladies Day at the Cheltenham Festival


 

 Ladies Day at the Cheltenham Festival

The Cheltenham Festival is a meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom. It is an event where many of the best British- and Irish-trained horses race to an extent which is relatively rare during the rest of the season.
 

The festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Racecourse in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

The 2010 Cheltenham Festival had the first ever running of the Ladies Charity Flat Race in aid of Cancer Research UK. The race was contested over 1 mile 5 furlongs, and all 12 amateur jockeys were female. The race was won in a photo-finish in front of a packed Cheltenham grandstand by Dublin-based Orna Madden riding Prince Picasso, finishing just ahead of fellow Irish rider Katie Doyle riding Devil To Pay, with Helen Needham riding on Mr. Wall Street in third.
 

This year again on the 11th day of March will come the Ladies day when women will wear their biggest, boldest, and often most outlandish outfit. 12 jockeys will be carefully selected from over 100 applicants to take part in a charity flat race over one mile and five furlongs. The jockeys, many with their own personal reasons for supporting us, come from across the UK and Europe for this prestigious race and raise money to help beat cancer. Guests get a chance to enjoy live entertainment, a Q&A session with top jockeys and a live auction, where the audience bid against one another for incredible, money can't buy auction lots. For more info about the Ladies Day races check it out at Will Hill.
 

During the festival, hardworking volunteers brave the cold and huge crowds of people to raise a record sum for a cancer charity. Teams from the Cheltenham branch of Cancer Research UK wait outside the racecourse with buckets to collect funds for the charity. Last year (2014), the volunteers were out in force on the day, with 56 people from the branch taking the call and collected �12,700 for the worthwhile cause. Hilary Haigh, who helped organize the event, said she believes it was the highest amount ever collected at the Festival.
 

The event serves a meaningful purpose by raising essential funds for a very worthwhile charity.

 

 

 

Dated 27 February 2015

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