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Up hill and down dale for six days solid Paul ’Barney’ Bamford undertook a gruelling journey to raise money for Racing Welfare, covering 100-plus miles of Yorkshire on a specially adapted hand cycle – this is his diary Day one I set out from Redcar racecourse in my adapted wheelchair hand cycle. The gradients are incredibly steep as I navigate 20 miles across the North Yorkshire Moors. My destination is the barren yet starkly beautiful Blakey Ridge. An hour’s massage from Vicky Easterby and a few hours sleep in the historic Lion Inn and I’m prepared for day two and the 29-mile push to Malton.
Day two
Kitted out for a British summer
Golf day raises £3,000 A host of racing personalities including Kevin Darley and Richard Fahey lined up at Malton and Norton Golf Club on May 13 to raise money for Barney’s Challenge. The event, which saw 60 players take part in the tournament, was the brainchild of Andy Bonarius and his Wildcard Racing Syndicate and helped to raise over £3,000. Martin Lane, who rides for the David Simcock stable, was in the quartet that won the event, with Richard Fahey’s team finishing second. Bonarius said: “Running my own syndicate, I am conscious of the people who make the stable tick. By working with Racing Welfare I have the chance to give something back to help those who suffered falls or injuries.”
The snow and sleet beat down in a manner more akin to the Antarctic. The long, drawn out slopes and hairpin downhill stretches, where I reach speeds of 30mph, require balance and care. Dropping down from the Moors, and a wonderful lady insists I come in for a cup of tea and a piece of cake whilst
I dry off. Steve Dennis from the Racing Post pitches up and helps me change my sodden clothes in a lay-by and then I push on to Malton, arriving at the rather smart Old Lodge for a well-earned pint and sandwich.
Day three My destination is Escrick, just outside York, a mere 29 miles away. George Primarolo joins me planning to run three or four miles but, forgetting just how steep the hills are leaving Malton, he hitches a lift after two miles, with Racing Welfare’s Richard Negus in the support vehicle generously loaned by Horsebox builders Roadload. The somewhat grand Parsonage Country House Hotel is my home for the night, where many racegoers destined for York the following day swell the coffers of my collecting bucket.
LATEST NEWS FROM RACING WELFARE
‘Huge privilege’ for Joey Newton Joey Newton has succeeded Roger Weatherby as Chairman of Racing Welfare. A former amateur jockey who won Aintree’s Fox Hunters’ Chase twice on Credit Call in the 1970s, Newton has been a racecourse steward since 1986 and is a nonexecutive director of Huntingdon. In 1993 he became a member of the Jockey Club. Newton said: “It is a huge privilege to become Chairman of Racing Welfare. One of the important next steps for the charity is to build its profile within the thoroughbred racing and breeding industries.
New Chairman Joey Newton “I know that we can do even more for racing’s people in need in the years to come.” Racing Welfare is also recruiting a new Chief Executive to succeed Cedric Burton OBE, who will stand down from his post by the end of this year after more than eight years in charge.
Visit our website www.racingwelfare.co.uk or contact us on info@racingwelfare.co.uk 74
THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER