SCU PLAN FOR PENDLETON
EIGHT-TIME champion jockey Peter Scudamore believes small technical changes can save Victoria Pendleton’s bid to ride at next month’s Cheltenham Festival.
After being unseated in her first Hunter Chase at Fakenham on Friday, the dual Olympic cycling champion faces a make-or-break ride in a similar race at Wincanton a week tomorrow.
Scudamore’s former colleagues John Francome and Steve Smith-Eccles have called for Pendleton’s quest to be aborted.
But Scudamore, whose work involves jockey coaching, said: ‘There are several things she can do to survive and she is not doing them. They are the sort of things I tell my jockeys.
‘I thought she had her whip in the wrong hand at Fakenham. She needs to be more relaxed and maybe ride with a longer stirrup.
‘They could also think about using a neck strap on the horse, giving her something to get a hold of. It is not about looking pretty, you have to be practical.’
Yesterday was a significant anniversary for Pendleton, a year on from the first time she sat on a horse.
The 35-year-old’s challenge to ride in the Foxhunter Chase could be deferred a year but Barry Orr, spokesman for Betfair who are supporting her Switching Saddles bid, said: ‘The challenge was very clear — to do this in a 12-month period. It is easily achievable for someone like Victoria Pendleton to do this in 24 months.
‘Potentially, we could still back her if she deferred for a year but I don’t think that would capture the public imagination.
‘After Wincanton, the team of experts Betfair have supplied — Yogi Breisner, Paul Nicholls and Alan and Lawney Hill — will decide if she has reached the required standard to line up in the Foxhunter Chase.’