Olympic medallists are to take on stars from the world of horse racing at the Gloucestershire Festival of Polo today (10 June).
The jockeys v sporting legends match will feature Grand National winner and H&H columnist Marcus Armytage and cyclist turned rider Victoria Pendleton in the line-up, at Beaufort Polo Club.
Alongside Marcus on the jockeys’ team will be Mark Bradburne, who rode more than 350 National Hunt winners including two Cheltenham Festival victories during his career, and Dominic Elsworth, another Cheltenham winner who also rode in nine Grand Nationals.
The final jockey taking to the field is Sam Thomas, who rode more than 500 winners during his career, including the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup on Denman and the 2007 Betfair Chase on Kauto Star.
On the sporting legends team, multiple Olympic cycling medallist Victoria, who finished fifth in last year’s Cheltenham Foxhunter chase a year after her first riding lesson, will be joined by Olympic silver medal-winning modern pentathlete Heather Fell and Olympic hurdler Lawrence Clarke.
The fourth member of the team will be a professional player from the polo club.
The match, which is in aid of the Bath Rugby Foundation, the charitable arm of Bath Rugby Club, is just one part of the two-day festival of polo, which also features the Beaufort International on Saturday and the Maserati Charity Polo Trophy tomorrow (11 June), as well as children’s attractions and a shopping village.
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“We’re delighted to have such a great line-up of players in the Jockeys v Sporting Legends charity match, and are proud to be raising funds for the Bath Rugby Foundation,’’ said Mark Tomlinson of the polo club.
“With the other match on Saturday being an exciting international, plus more top polo action the following day, we know visitors to the festival will enjoy their time at Beaufort Polo Club.”
