BORDERS woman Mary Thomson is having a day away from her Vice Principal role at SRUC, Scotland's Rural College, next month when she will ride as a charity jockey at Wetherby Races.
Mary was selected as one of 12 northern jockeys by the British Horse Society back in Spring 2023 and has been fitness and horse-riding training since then.
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Mary is Berwickshire based and runs with Lauderdale Limpers, coaching their JAGs section.
Preparation for the race has required a lot of strength training and it has become almost routine for family and colleagues to find her practising her plank core fitness during coffee time.
She passed the gruelling jockey fitness test, simulator and riding assessments at the National Horse Racing College in September and has been riding out regularly at HGGR racing near Jedburgh where the team led by Harriet Graham and Gary Rutherford have been brilliant, supporting Mary's skills development and getting her back to riding thoroughbreds for the first time in almost twenty years.
The race is on 3rd November and starts at 11.45am:
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All being well, Mary's horse for the race will be 'With A Start', owned by Russell Lee and trained by Peter Winks Racing.
Mary says she is incredibly grateful for the practical support and sponsorship received so far and has a Just Giving page fundraising for British Horse Society Changing Lives through horses and Second Chance horse welfare appeals:
Mary's target is £2,500 and already more that £2,100 has been pledged.
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