Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips: Best bets for Wednesday, July 29
Sportsmail's racing expert Robin Goodfellow dishes out his tips for Wednesday's meetings at Goodwood, Thirsk and Bangor-on-Dee.
Month: July 2020
One Year On, Mellah Looks Back At Historic Win As Documentary Collects Award
This Saturday, 1st August, will mark the anniversary of Khadijah Mellah's win in the Magnolia Cup, which made her the first British Muslim to win a race in the United Kingdom. The victory in the charity race was celebrated just three months after Mellah's first time sitting on a racehorse and against competitors including Olympian Victoria Pendleton.
Viewers in Britain will have the chance to relive the entire story when the documentary, Riding A Dream is shown again at 12.50pm on ITV this Saturday.
The film was last week announced as the Best British Short Film at the prestigious British Documentary Film Festival.
“Winning the Magnolia Cup at the Qatar Goodwood Festival was a whirlwind experience and something that has changed my life immensely,” said Mellah. “The fact that the documentary of my story, Riding A Dream, has gone on to win Best British Short Film is totally surreal.”
She told Great British Racing she is determined to use her experience to inspire other young people.
She said, “At the time, I was looking up to role models to help inspire me and get me through the grueling training. So it was incredible to then receive messages from young women and girls in particular, saying that I had inspired them to do something out of their comfort zone.”
“It is so important to me to encourage people to be determined and pursue a sport to a higher level despite what other people may think. My hope is that my experiences will encourage more people to get involved in racing.”
Mellah's victory made history and changed the perceptions of young women in her community.
“I know for sure that I have broken some perceptions of a young Muslim woman and it is something that I am proud of and will continue to do,” said Mellah. “Me being Muslim isn't just it. It is important that people realise that being a certain religion or from a certain background doesn't determine your interests and the person you are, and it certainly doesn't determine how good you are.
“For me it is so important to be able to spread the message that you can be successful despite your background.”
She hopes that her story and positive experience within the sport will see a shift in horse racing.
“When I was younger, I didn't think that getting into racing would be an option for me or someone of my background,” Mellah said. “There was no one that looked like me. I hope now that I have joined the racing industry and I have been a success story that young people like me will also see there is an opportunity for them to join that racing community.”
The post One Year On, Mellah Looks Back At Historic Win As Documentary Collects Award appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
‘Side By Side’: Fever Temple’s Half-Brother, Even Fever, Ponies Him To The Gate At Indiana Grand
Fever Temple and DeShawn Parker stepped onto the track for the afternoon's fourth race Tuesday, July 28 and were greeted by a familiar face. The pony horse assigned to take them to the gate was none other than half-brother Even Fever, a retired racehorse who recently joined the pony horse team of Liz Klopp at Indiana Grand.
“I knew Even Fever was being used for outriding at Ellis Park, but I didn't know he was here at Indiana Grand until a few weeks ago,” said Brandi Steele, trainer of Fever Temple. “Liz (Klopp) came up to me and told me she had just bought him (Even Fever) to add to her pony horses. It was pretty cool to see them side by side on the track today.”
Although Even Fever is grey and Fever Temple is dark bay, Steele sees the family resemblance in the two geldings. They all hail from her owner Jim Edgar's mare, Cecilia's Fever, and with six foals of racing age, four are currently or have been under the care of Steele. Even Fever was trained by Tom Dorris in Illinois for Edgar.
“We have had four in the barn by Jim (Edgar's) mare Cecilia's Hope and they are all dark bay and all look the same in the face,” noted Steele. “Looking at Even Fever, even though he's grey, he has the same facial features as all the others.”
Even Fever completed his racing career in 2018, racing primarily in Illinois. The now 10-year-old son of Even the Score won 10 races during his career and earnings in excess of $167,000. He is now excelling as a pony horse in his second career on the track.
Fever Temple, Lucky Fever, and Cecilia's Hope are all part of Steele's barn and currently racing. Fever Temple finished fourth in his start Tuesday. Lucky Fever has had four starts this year. Cecilia's Hope, a two-year-old, will make her racing debut Monday, Aug. 3 at Indiana Grand in the afternoon's third race.
Steele has been training for Edgar, former Governor of Illinois, for the past three years. Edgar has been a longtime proponent of horse racing and still owns part of a Standardbred, but his main focus these days is in the Thoroughbred industry.
“Jim has a farm around the Springfield (Illinois) area, but he breeds here in Indiana and his horses stay over here,” said Steele. “He has seven or eight brood mares right now.”
Although retired, Edgar is still actively involved on numerous boards and lends his expertise as a consultant. He was inducted into the Lincoln Academy of Illinois as Laureate and awarded the Order of Lincoln in 1999, the state's highest honor. He also has a state park named in his honor, the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area located in central Illinois. The stakes winning owner remains passionate about horse racing and attends the races frequently to watch his horses compete at Indiana Grand. His best horse to date was Fighting Fever, who won in excess of $276,000 before her retirement to the brood mare ranks in 2006.
The post ‘Side By Side’: Fever Temple’s Half-Brother, Even Fever, Ponies Him To The Gate At Indiana Grand appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
‘Thankful To Not Be Sick’: Florent Geroux Out Of Quarantine, Resumes Riding Friday At Ellis
Jockey Florent Geroux was getting on horses at Churchill Downs Tuesday morning for the first time since a positive test for COVID-19 put him on the sideline for two weeks until he tested negative. Geroux resumes riding races Friday at Ellis Park.
“I never had any symptoms, I'm thankful for that,” he said. “I was not sick. You can see in our country and the rest of the world, some of them, it's not very pretty. I was just thankful to not be sick. I missed a couple of weeks of racing, but that's the way it is, and I had to stay home in quarantine.”
Several of Geroux's scheduled mounts won in his absence at Ellis Park.
“It's never a good time, but it's better last week and two weeks ago than happening Kentucky Derby Week,” he said. “And I have some good mounts coming up now.”
The post ‘Thankful To Not Be Sick’: Florent Geroux Out Of Quarantine, Resumes Riding Friday At Ellis appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
