‘Bard of Barnsley’ celebrates charity horse race
THE BARD of Barnsley, Ian McMillan, has shown his support for a charity horse race by penning a special poem in its honour.
The Yorkshire Post columnist, broadcaster and poet has paid tribute to the Macmillan Ride of Their Lives charity horse race, which takes place each year at York Racecourse, raising thousands of pounds for the charity.
The jockeys are amateur riders who have been supported through six months of intense training by professional trainers.
Mr McMillan said the poem, which marks the race’s 10th anniversary on Saturday, June 11, celebrates not only the “incredible” amount it has raised for charity but the challenge undertaken by the riders taking part.
“When Macmillan approached me to write a poem to celebrate the race I started to think about the parallels between training for the race and people going through gruelling cancer treatments.
“We’ve all faced challenges during the pandemic, having a diagnosis of cancer on top of this intensifies the feelings of worry and anxiety.
“I wanted to capture the challenges faced by people living with cancer, the sentiment of the poem feels very poignant right now.”
William Derby, chief executive at York Racecourse, said: “We feel very privileged that Ian McMillan has written a poem to celebrate the Ride of Their Lives race, an event that everyone at York Racecourse feels passionate about and has championed from day one.
“The poem captures the excitement and trepidation of preparing for the race, and I know it will take our previous riders straight back to many positive and inspirational memories over the years.”
This year also marks the 50th anniversary of York Racecourse and Macmillan Cancer Care’s partnership which has raised more than £9m for the charity.