It is always exciting when a club makes its debut on a stage which they long dreamed of. Such is the case of Jamaica Premier League outfit Cavalier, who is among the first-timers set to grace this year’s edition of the Concacaf Champions Cup, after they finished as runner-up in last year’s Concacaf Caribbean Cup.
Anchoring what is the youngest team in Jamaica’s top-flight league is goalkeeper Vino Barclett, who started all eight matches for Cavalier during the tournament, and made 28 saves, which assisted the Rudolph Speid-coached team to the Caribbean Cup showpiece.
Though they lost 0-3 on aggregate to Suriname’s Robinhood, their main objective was met, as their vision of playing against some of the best clubs in the Concacaf region, has come to fruition.
“It was a big achievement for a Jamaican club. We played in a knockout tournament domestically and got to the finals, we played in the domestic league and got to the finals and so getting to the Caribbean Cup final and qualifying for Champions Cup was another big achievement for us,” Barclett said in a recent interview with Concacaf.com.
“All of the players were deserving, we worked hard for it, the only thing we lacked was winning silverware,” he added.
While most of his Cavalier teammates are from Jamaica, Barclett is one of the team’s full-time international players, as he represents St Lucia on an even bigger stage. Giving his vast experience representing St Lucia in Concacaf Nations League, Barclett is not one to shy away from tough competition and, as such, is now eager to parade his skill in Concacaf’s premier club competition.
“Representing St Lucia on this stage is like a dream come true. I’m still a relatively young player, just 24 years old, I think I’m the only goalkeeper from St Lucia to have played in this tournament. It is a big achievement for me, and I want to show our amateur players back home that they can be on this big stage. I’m excited for the exposure and opportunity,” Barclett shared.
Cavalier’s Round One encounter will be against Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit FC Cincinnati, scheduled for February 22, and Barclett knows a sturdy challenge awaits as their opponents capped the 2023 MLS regular season with the best record.
“The preparation has been going up to standard, we have been putting in the work. In our domestic league in the last six games, we are unbeaten with five wins and one draw, so I think the team has prepared with full conviction. We know it won’t be easy game. We have to be focused in every second of the game, we cannot switch off. Our team has a good chemistry and in preparation for that game we are working very hard,” the agile goaltender said.
With Cavalier boasting so many young players, the 2024 Champions Cup represents the perfect platform on which a group of hungry players can demonstrate their skills to the world. It is also a chance to show everyone the strength of Jamaica’s domestic football.
“I would say this is the biggest moment of my career. I have been in finals, but this will be the biggest game of my career. This is a game that can be an opportunity for many of us. Maybe scouts see us and who knows where that might lead. Representing the Caribbean is a responsibility that we embrace, knowing that we are representing the Jamaican nation, so we will be relying on our fans in the home game,” Barclett ended.
It was Shamar Joseph's dream debut in Test cricket, and little did he know that his extraordinary performance would become the talking point of the opening day at the historic Adelaide Oval. The West Indies, however, found themselves in a precarious position against hosts Australia.
Sent into bat, the Caribbean men struggled to put up a decent total, managing only 188 runs. The top order collapsed, with the team reeling at 133-9, courtesy of the relentless pace duo of Australia's captain Pat Cummins, who took 4-41 and Josh Hazlewood’s 4-44. The lone resistance came from Kirk McKenzie, playing in only his second Test, who scored a gritty half-century amid the crumbling wickets.
It was then that Shamar Joseph, the West Indies' No.11, strode to the crease with determination. The Guyanese player showcased unexpected resilience, smashing 36 runs and contributing significantly to a 10th-wicket partnership of 55 runs alongside fellow bowler Kemar Roach, who remained unbeaten on 17. This unexpected lower-order resistance helped the West Indies reach a somewhat more respectable total.
Buoyed by his batting heroics the debutant carried his positive momentum into the bowling attack. In a stunning turn of events, he dismissed the dangerous Steve Smith, who had been promoted to open the innings following David Warner's retirement. Smith, who had been in sublime touch, fell to Joseph's clever bowling for just 12.
Joseph's dream debut continued as he followed up with the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne, who made 10, further denting Australia's innings. He finished the day with figures of 2-18 from his six overs as the hosts ended the day at 59-2, with Usman Khawaja (30) and Cameron Green (6) at the crease.
Notably, Joseph's dream debut wasn't just about his all-around performance. He etched his name in history by becoming the 23rd player in Test history, and the second from the West Indies, to take a wicket with his very first ball in Test cricket. And it wasn't just any wicket.
"Getting Steve Smith, I'll remember this for the rest of my life," Joseph exclaimed after the day's play. "I'll actually take a picture and post it up in my house." He had already predicted to his teammates that he would get a wicket with his first ball, and when it happened, he credited his positive mindset for the success.
"I didn't know it was Steve Smith," Joseph admitted. "That went well for me. You're coming up against the best team in Test cricket. So I just came with a positive mindset and did what I do best."
The West Indies could have been in an even stronger position had Joshua da Silva, who managed only six runs in the West Indies innings, held onto a catch after Alzarri Joseph found Khawaja’s edge when the Australian opener was on three, during the second over of the hosts’ innings.
Eydon is pencilled in to make his long-awaited debut for Andrew Balding in next month’s BetUK Winter Derby.
The five-year-old was previously trained by Roger Varian, winning the 2022 Feilden Stakes before finishing fourth to Coroebus in the 2000 Guineas, beaten just four and a quarter lengths.
However, Eydon has not run since that Classic date two years ago, with a series of injury setbacks keeping him on the sidelines before he moved to the care of Balding ahead of the 2023 campaign.
The son of Olden Times missed his intended first start for the yard at Sandown in September, but Balding reports him to be in good form ahead of the February 24 contest at Southwell.
He said: “Eydon has a very high level of form, although it has been some time since he was last on the track. He has had a few niggles, but we are really pleased with him at the moment and the Winter Derby is very much the plan.
“The intention is to go straight there without a run – we feel that is the right thing to do.”
Balding also has Dante Stakes winner The Foxes and Teumessias Fox in the Group Three, but neither appear likely to run in the Winter Derby.
The trainer added: “I am very happy with The Foxes. Our preferred option for him is the Saudi Cup meeting, but he is likely to run in the Winter Derby Trial at Southwell on January 25 as a prep. We will see how that goes and then make a decision on what to do next.
“Our other entry Teumessias Fox will stay in handicaps for the time being. He has ability and we felt it was worth giving him the option, just in case the race cuts up.”
Last year’s winner and multiple Group One scorer Lord North is one of 22 entries for the race, which will be taking place at Southwell for the first time.
Previously run over a mile and a quarter at Lingfield since its inception in 1998, the switch to Southwell has prompted an increase in distance to 11 furlongs.
David Attwood, Southwell’s clerk of the course, said: “We do not have a 10-furlong start and, when we looked at whether we could introduce one, it was only about 20 yards from the start of the bend.
“It also would have meant coming on and off the track via the turf course, which was not viable, so the British Horseracing Authority kindly allowed us to change the race distance to a mile and three furlongs.
“It is exciting because the BetUK Winter Derby will be the first Group race run here at Southwell, while the same card also features the Listed BetUK Hever Sprint.”
Lord North is one of five entries for John and Thady Gosden, along with Lion’s Pride and Middle Earth, who both enjoyed Listed success on their latest starts, 2021 Winter Derby winner Forest Of Dean and progressive handicapper Vaguely Royal.
Australian Group One winner Dubai Honour and Mujtaba have been entered by William Haggas, with Jean-Claude Rouget’s Glaer another eyecatching possible.
The first day of Lingfield’s Winter Million Festival has been cancelled due to a frozen track.
Officials inspected at 8.30am on Wednesday ahead of Friday’s jumps card, which was set to be headlined by the Grade Two Download The Racing App Lightning Novices’ Chase.
Despite covering the whole track with fleece last Saturday, there are frozen areas under the covers and with temperatures not forecast to rise sufficiently before the meeting, the seven-race card has been cancelled.
The Winter Million is a three-day fixture, with Saturday’s card featuring Flat racing on the all-weather track and Sunday seeing jumps action, including the richly-endowed Fleur De Lys Chase.
That card will now be further enhanced, with the British Horseracing Authority announcing the Lightning will be rescheduled for Sunday, with original entries standing but new declarations to be made on Friday morning.
There will be no National Hunt action in Britain on Thursday with Ludlow abandoned due to a frozen track following an inspection on Wednesday morning. The other scheduled meetings at Wincanton and Newcastle were cancelled earlier in the week.
Friday’s card at Market Rasen is also now subject to a precautionary check at noon on Thursday, but Wednesday’s Southwell jumps fixture did get the go-ahead following a morning check.
Wednesday’s meeting at Southwell goes ahead as planned after the track passed a precautionary inspection.
The course was raceable under the fleece covers on Tuesday, but officials felt it prudent to check conditions on raceday morning due to the prospect of freezing overnight temperatures.
An inspection was planned for 8am but clerk of the course David Attwood was able to give the go-ahead an hour earlier than that.
Southwell is the only jumps card to take place on Wednesday, with Newbury already called off.
Mount Pleasant Academy announced on Tuesday that winger Devonte Campbell is now at English League One club, Charlton Athletic Football Club for two weeks of extensive training.
This marks the opening action of the newly signed “Mountain to Valley” partnership between the two clubs.
He travelled to Charlton Athletic on Friday January 12, 2024, where he will spend quality time with the South-East London club.
Campbell who attended St. James High before joining MPA at age 14, was amongst the 1st batch of students to be enrolled at Mount Pleasant Academy in September 2018.
He matriculated to the Mount Pleasant Premier League team in 2020, getting his first goal against Molynes United in the team’s 4-1 triumph. He ended the season with 2 goals including a wonder strike in a 3-1 win against Harbour View.
Campbell received his first call-up to the National Senior Reggae Boys squad in 2021 for a friendly international against Peru in Lima.
He has played 5 times for the national under 20 team and has 2 appearances for the National under 23 team.
Sporting Director, Paul Christie stated that “This will help the player to succeed at local, national and international levels. We anticipate that there will be similar experiences in the near future. This is a win/win for both clubs”
Julie Camacho has provided a positive update on how her former stable star Shaquille has settled in at stud, leaving his new handlers “pleasantly surprised” by his friendly manner.
Shaquille rose through the sprinting ranks to claim Group One glory in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and Newmarket’s July Cup, overcoming tardy starts in impressive fashion.
He is now standing at Dullingham Park and is proving popular with broodmare owners ahead of the new mating season.
“I know I’m biased but he is a lovely horse,” said Camacho. “He’s a good-looking horse, he’s got a lovely walk on him, but they weren’t quite expecting that from him.
“I think they have been pleasantly surprised with his temperament as well. I think they were all expecting him to be a bit of a nutter, but he’s not and they’ve found out at Dullingham what a lovely person he is.”
Camacho got off the mark for 2024 with well-backed Newcastle winner Dingle, who fittingly carries the purple and white colours of Martin Hughes, just as Shaquille did.
“It’s nice to get going,” added Camacho on Sky Sports Racing. “The horses have been running well but we’ve just been hitting the goalposts rather than the back of the net, but he’s a grand horse is Dingle.
“He’s just moved into Shaquille’s old box and whereas Shaquille was a lovely person, he’s grumpy when I go in to see him in the morning – but you don’t mind when he does that.”
After a quiet winter, Camacho is looking forward to building her Malton string back up.
She said: “We’ve got a few on the go and the other horses will start coming back in.
“We’ll have maybe a dozen two-year-olds, most of them are still in pre-training, including a few we’ve bred ourselves – maybe there will be another Shaquille, we can hope at this stage!”
Former West Indies wicket-keeper Shane Dowrich is taking legal action against Cricket West Indies (CWI) seeking US$172,000 in special damages for being wrongfully determined to be ineligible to play for the West Indies in Test Matches between February 2021 and August 2022. CWI has been served with the lawsuit, sources told Sportsmax.TV on Tuesday.
In late 2020, the 32-year-old wicketkeeper/batsman, who represented the West Indies in 35 Tests and one ODI, suffered a finger injury while on a tour of New Zealand. He was subsequently granted permission to leave the tour for "personal reasons".
However, according to the suit filed in court in Barbados, CWI failed to follow up with the player to determine whether he had managed to put his ‘personal issues' behind him and was ready to resume representing the regional side. CWI, it is being claimed, failed to have him evaluated by a doctor when he indicated that he was ready to return to play.
Dowrich, who was on a US$150,000 central contract at the time, had his contract rescinded presumably because he had missed the number of games required to qualify. This resulted in his earnings being significantly reduced.
The diminutive Barbadian was recently recalled to the West Indies ODI squad for their series against England in December but withdrew from the squad after announcing his retirement from international cricket mere days before the first game.
Cricket West Indies has until the end of February to file a defence to the lawsuit with the first court date set for April.
Calls to CWI CEO Johnny Grave went unanswered up to the point of publication.
Iroko, who had initially been ruled out for the season following a flawless novice chase debut at Warwick, has been handed surprise entries in the Arkle and the Turners Novice Chase events at the Cheltenham Festival.
Trained by Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero, the six-year-old was a winner at the meeting last season in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.
He went on to be placed in Grade One company at Aintree and looked set for a big campaign, only for injury to get in the way.
The Martin Pipe has a history of throwing up top-class winners, with Sir Des Champs, Don Poli, Galopin Des Champs and Saturday’s Kempton winner Banbridge on the roll of honour.
Iroko is one of 24 in the Arkle, 17 of which are trained in Ireland, with Gaelic Warrior, who has three options, Found A Fifty and Barry Connell’s odds-on favourite Marine Nationale entered up.
“The betting suggests Marine Nationale has the Arkle at his mercy, with only Constitution Hill a hotter favourite for a Festival race right now,” said Coral’s David Stevens.
“Although perhaps the bigger surprise is that Willie Mullins doesn’t train the Arkle favourite, as he does with the other three novice chases.”
A total of 42 have been entered for the Turners over two and a half miles, with Gaelic Warrior a clear ante-post market leader here.
Corbetts Cross, Colonel Harry, Fact To File and impressive Kauto Star Novices’ Chase winner Il Est Francais are among the other contenders.
The three-mile Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase has attracted 38, a whopping 21 of which are trained in Ireland, including the fancied Mullins pair of Grangeclare West and Fact To File.
Dan Skelton’s Grey Dawning and the Paul Nicholls-trained Stay Away Fay catch the eye from the home contingent at this stage.
There are 26 in the National Hunt Chase over three and three-quarter miles for amateurs, including Flooring Porter, a dual winner of the Stayers’ Hurdle.
Officials at Lingfield have admitted they will need “the best of the forecast” after calling an inspection for 8.30am on Wednesday ahead of day one of the track’s Winter Million Festival on Friday.
The Surrey circuit is due to play host to a quality three-day fixture, with high-class jumps cards on Friday and Sunday sandwiching a morning all-weather meeting on Saturday.
The Grade Two Lightning Novices’ Chase and the £100,000 Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide Hurdle are due to take place on Friday – but with parts of the track frozen on Tuesday afternoon and further sub-zero temperatures forecast, the card appears to be under serious threat.
“We got down to minus 7C last night and we have frost under the fleece that we used to cover the whole track on Saturday,” said clerk of the course Stephanie Wethered.
“We’ve called an inspection following that, and with the ongoing freezing temperatures this week. We’re forecast minus 2C tonight and then minus 5C on Wednesday and Thursday night.
“We’ll need the best of the forecast for Friday’s fixture.”
Temperatures are due to rise later in the week, giving Wethered optimism that the weekend action will go ahead as scheduled.
She added: “The weather is going to change for Saturday and Sunday’s racing, hopefully.”
The current cold snap will have a major impact on the jumps racing programme across the country in the coming days, with Tuesday’s National Hunt meetings at Chepstow and Plumpton both abandoned due to frozen ground.
Hopes of any racing over obstacles taking place on Wednesday hinge on a precautionary 8am check at Southwell, with the team at Newbury making an early decision to draw stumps on Tuesday afternoon ahead of their scheduled fixture.
Thursday’s meetings at Newcastle and Wincanton have already been called off, while Fairyhouse’s card on the same day is subject to a noon inspection on Wednesday.
Brendan Sheridan, IHRB clerk of the course, said on Tuesday morning: “The track is currently unfit for racing due to overnight frost.
“Parts of the track are frozen following two nights of low temperatures, with last night getting down to at least minus 3C.
“We don’t have the most favourable forecast with temperatures only rising to a high of 2C for a couple of hours today before dropping again tonight back to minus 3C.
“In light of that forecast, and due to the current ground conditions, we will have a 12pm inspection on Wednesday to assess the prospects of racing here at Fairyhouse on Thursday.”
Harry Fry is keeping his fingers crossed Lingfield’s Winter Million Racing Festival beats the cold snap to give Love Envoi the opportunity to get back on the winning trail.
Despite finishing second to Not So Sleepy on her seasonal reappearance in the rescheduled Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Sandown last month, Fry admits his star mare’s performance was laboured.
The Dorset handler is now preparing the eight-year-old to take on the boys in the Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide Hurdle and is hopeful she will be sharper for her comeback run.
“If you’d said when they passed the stands the first time that she’d finish second (in the Fighting Fifth), we’d have jumped at that result, as from the word go she never looked to be travelling or jumping,” Fry told Sky Sports Racing.
“It looked like she was going round with the handbrake on and Johnny (Burke) said it felt like that, so for her to get herself involved between the last two and hang on for second was not a bad result in the end, but obviously it wasn’t her very best run and we’re hoping to take a big step forward.”
Love Envoi’s main target is the Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, in which she finished second to the retiring Honeysuckle last season.
Fry added: “The whole season is geared around going back for the Mares’ Hurdle. She was just ready to get started in the Fighting Fifth, she looked a bit ring-rusty and she was coming back from an injury that she picked up at Punchestown.
“I’m pleased to say she seems to have taken a step forward at home in her work and her schooling, so we’re hoping to see that on the track.”
The trainer is also beginning to formulate future plans for two of his other stable stars in Boothill and Gidleigh Park.
Boothill will look to bounce back from a fall in Kempton’s Desert Orchid Chase early next month, with a trip to Leopardstown for the Dublin Chase or the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury his two options.
“He’s absolutely fine, schooled on Friday and schooled again this morning, just to give him a bit of confidence again after an uncharacteristic mistake,” said Fry.
“Jumping has always been a real strong point, but even the best make mistakes sometimes. The main thing is he’s all okay and we can make plans for him again moving forward.
“The entries (for the Dublin Racing Festival) closed last week and we thought why not give ourselves the option and have a look? You’ve also got the Game Spirit the following weekend at Newbury.
“Hopefully, the Clarence House goes ahead this weekend and you’ve got the two heavyweights in the division (El Fabiolo and Jonbon) due to take each other on, so we thought we’d have a look at those two options in early February and make our minds up.
“It would be great to go over to Ireland, but you want to do so knowing you can be competitive, as it’s a pretty tough environment to go and compete in. We’ve done it in the past and with the right horse we’re prepared to do it again. We’ll see nearer the time before making a final decision.”
Gidleigh Park has been hugely impressive in winning a bumper and twice over hurdles for the team and he is set to have his sights raised in a Grade Two novice event at Cheltenham next weekend.
Fry added: “He has obviously impressed so far this season, he’s unbeaten to date and we’re looking forward to hopefully taking him to Cheltenham on Trials Day.
“He’s certainly one that gets us excited in the morning and has schooled well under Jonathan Burke today. We’re looking forward to seeing him step up in grade next weekend.”
Members of Old Gold Racing appear to have a trip to Cheltenham to get excited about with Apple Away – but connections are yet to agree on which race she will contest at the Festival following her Warwick second on Saturday.
Trained by Lucinda Russell, the Grade One-winning hurdler continued her education over fences when stepped up to Grade Two level for Warwick’s Hampton Novices’ Chase.
Although ultimately no match for an on-song Grey Dawning, Apple Away bravely plugged on once headed to finish a fair runner-up, leaving her team contemplating their next moves.
Russell is in agreement that Apple Away deserves to take her chance at Prestbury Park in the spring and is eyeing the three-mile Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, for which she is now as big as 33-1 with some bookmakers.
However, the trainer’s partner and assistant Peter Scudamore appears to have other ideas and is keen to consider stretching out to three-mile-six for the National Hunt Chase, or even racing in handicap company at the March showpiece.
“I think with hindsight, it is a very quick track at Warwick and, as Patrick Wadge said afterwards, maybe she needs a stiffer track and a step up in trip,” said Old Gold CEO Ed Seyfried.
“Lucinda said she could think of a track that is very testing and undulating and when I asked did that begin with ‘C’, she said yes.
“So, we are very much headed for Cheltenham and Lucinda is still very much headed for the Brown Advisory, whereas Peter Scudamore is headed for every other race at Cheltenham apart from the Brown Advisory.
“He is looking at the Ultima, Scu is also thinking about maybe the Mares’ Chase and even the three-mile-six amateur novice, so there will be massive discussions at Arlary and we will be told what is going to happen.”
Seyfried went on: “With a horse like Apple, you hope you have the best horse in the world, and she didn’t get found out, but she made a couple of rookie errors jumping and this track clearly suited Grey Dawning better.
“The track and going was too quick for her and we came up against a better horse on the day. We have met Grey Dawning three times and won the time he came down, so maybe he is super special?
“The plan was here, then Ascot, then Cheltenham – and given the going here won’t have taken too much out of her, it could be that they think ‘let’s have another race’.
“She will have learnt a lot (at Warwick) and those five fences come thick and fast – it’s a proper test.”
Maughreen has bounced out of her stunning debut win in great shape but future plans for the exciting mare have still to be discussed.
Out of an unraced half-sister to 2015 Champion Hurdle winner Faugheen, there was always going to be plenty of attention on her when she hit the track.
She did not let members of the Closutton Racing Club down with a perfect performance at Punchestown, cruising clear under Patrick Mullins to win by 11 lengths.
Like Faugheen, she is trained by Willie Mullins – and James Fenton, who manages the syndicate, is happy to leave future targets up to the champion trainer.
“From day one, she was always professional. She’d been working well at home but had never shown us as much as that,” said Fenton.
“There’s never been any fuss with her, she’s been very straightforward. Obviously, she’s by Walk In The Park and she has the size, scope and pedigree to match.
“I pay a lot of heed on the cross of the stallion to the dam’s sire. Her dam’s sire is Goldmark and that cross works for me.
“I actually didn’t know what her pedigree was; once I like an individual, I like them and I just knew she was a Walk In The Park. When I looked into her pedigree, it was a bonus.
“Genuinely, I normally leave the planning up to Willie. I’d be up for keeping her to her own sex.
“There’s a lot of talk about Cheltenham but we had a very good bumper mare two years ago in Ashroe Diamond and she fits a similar profile for me (went on to win at Aintree). Ultimately, Willie will make the decision and we’ll discuss it over the next few weeks.”
Crucially, Maughreen has taken her first race in her stride.
Fenton said: “She’s come out of her race well, they are very happy with her and again, she’s just been very professional. There’s a lot of valuable mares’ bumpers and we wouldn’t be over-racing her this year in the hope she comes back good and strong next year.
“There’s 100 shares in the syndicate. Every year, we throw the few quid that we make into a dividend and start from scratch again.
“A couple came over from England yesterday and there’s great camaraderie in the club, over the last few years we’re working at a strike-rate of about 40 per cent and everyone is really enjoying it.
“Last year, we had Shewearsitwell, she was third in the Grade One but was coming towards the end of her career and I just had to say we might be a bit slow now as I needed to rebuild the stock.
“In fairness, they understood and were patient. We’ve seven mares in training and hopefully they’ll all be out in the next few months.”
Fenton was, though, keen to clear up where Maughreen’s name came from.
“There’s a lot of people think Maughreen is named after Maureen Mullins but that’s not the case, I said to her I wouldn’t like that pressure on her,” said Fenton.
“She’s named after a next-door neighbour of mine called Maureen O’Brien from Castlelyons.
“It was an emotional day for me yesterday, as she was like my mother growing up and she died a couple of years ago.
“I always told her someday I would have a horse named after her and her favourite horse was Faugheen and it just happened the way it worked out.”
Cervical cancer charities are set to receive the support of Old Gold Racing as they syndicate a horse donated by breeder Peter Pritchard in memory of his daughter Katie.
The horse in question is the four-year-old filly Katie Sunny Dancer, bred by Pritchard out of his broodmare Earcomesannie and by the stallion Passing Glance.
Katie, who the filly is named after, was an NHS nurse manager and a mother of two who was only 37 when she lost her life to cervical cancer in June 2023.
Her family are keen to raise funds for two cervical cancer charities, The Lady Garden Foundation and Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, and honour her memory in partnership with the successful Old Gold Racing syndication company.
Pritchard has offered his home-bred mare for the Katie’s Legacy Syndicate and it is hoped the initiative will raise £40,000 to be split between the two charities.
Alex Hales will train the mare, who is yet to run, and the funds gathered will go towards research and support for those diagnosed with cervical cancer.
In addition to that, Old Gold Racing have pledged £9,000 of the fee they earn from creating and managing the syndicate to The Myton Hospice, who cared for Katie in her final days
Peter Pritchard said: “While nothing can replace the void Katie’s passing has left behind, we want to honour her life and her story by spreading awareness about this deadly disease, which so many disregard the early signs of.
“By combining Katie’s love of horses with our ambition to make a difference, we hope Katie’s Sunny Dancer will contribute to the advancement of research into cervical cancer, so others do not have to go through Katie’s ordeal.”
Jenny Halpern Prince MBE, co-founder and chair of The Lady Garden Foundation, added: “We are so moved to have been selected as the beneficiaries of this charitable drive – especially upon hearing Katie’s tragic story.
“In the UK, around 3,100 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and it’s the most common cancer in women under 35 years old.
“It is so important that this cause gets as much funding as possible and we are incredibly grateful to Peter and his family for helping us on our mission”.
Louise Newton, trustee at Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, was equally grateful for the support, saying: “We are so very saddened to hear the devastating news that Katie lost her life to this cancer, as did my wonderful friend Jo, 25 years ago.
“We are honoured to be part of celebrating Katie’s life and we are dedicated to improving outcomes for people like her and her family. Our mission for the last 25 years has been to support and inform all of the many women who are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year in the UK.
“Our vision for the future is of a day when cervical cancer is a thing of the past. This initiative will help us to work towards that goal.”
Anyone wishing to find out more information about the Katie’s Legacy Syndicate can head to https://oldgoldracing.com/horses/katie-sunny-dancer
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