Britain’s most successful female Olympian, Victoria Pendleton, has been granted an amateur riders’ licence and is scheduled to make her official debut at Ripon.
A dual gold medallist in cycling, Pendleton began training as a jockey earlier this year with the sponsorship of Betfair and rode in a charity event at Newbury last month.
She is now set to take the next step in her Cheltenham mission in Monday’s Betfair Novice Flat Amateur Series after being awarded her ‘Category A’ licence.
Pendleton, who has been riding out regularly for trainer Lawney Hill, was put through a thorough mandatory assessment at the British Racing School in Newmarket last week and proved her ability to school over fences and break from stalls, among other criteria.
“I’m delighted. Since Betfair first approached me, it’s been a hugely challenging, yet unbelievably exciting six months.
“I have been working extremely hard with Lawney and Alan Hill and Yogi Breisner to prepare for this and couldn’t thank them enough.
“The experience has been life changing; I can’t imagine my life without it now.
“There’s still a long way to go to achieve the ambitious goal of riding in the Foxhunter Chase at Cheltenham next year, but I’m more than happy with my progress so far.”
Richard Perham, former rider and senior jockey coach at the British Racing School, hailed Pendleton’s application to the challenge and her swift progress in a new discipline.
“Victoria’s progression from when we first welcomed her for her two weeks of intensive training is incredible,” he said.
