Victoria Pendleton: Cyclist turned jockey 13th in Beverley race
- From the section Horse Racing
Double Olympic cycling champion Victoria Pendleton was not downhearted despite finishing 13th of 16 in her second race as an amateur jockey.
Pendleton, 34, started slowly aboard Royal Etiquette at Beverley, went wide and was hampered by another runner.`
"I made a bit of a Royal Etiquette sandwich coming into the last three furlongs, but that's racing," she said.
Pendleton is aiming to ride over the jumps in the Foxhunter Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
"I can't wait to go point-to-pointing and what will be, will be. I can't imagine a life without horses now," she said.
The Briton, who won gold in the keirin at London 2012, finished second on the Lawney Hill-trained Royal Etiquette on her competitive debut as a jockey at Ripon on 31 August.
She retired from cycling in 2012 after adding London gold to the sprint title she won at the Beijing Games in 2008.
"This was more of a gloves-off type of a race and she'll learn a huge amount about racing after that. She's making strides all of the time," said Hill.
The one mile, one furlong race was won by 20-1 chance Jan De Heem, ridden by John Dawson for trainer Tina Jackson.
