FEELING a Thoroughbred, the ultimate equine athlete, bunch beneath you and extend its stride defines horsepower. Perched above the tiny saddle in short stirrups, head down and eyes up, it’s impossible to stop grinning in sheer delight, intoxicated by the speed.
When Goodwood contacted the Editor of COUNTRY LIFE, asking if anyone on the staff would be interested in taking part in the Magnolia Cup, a charity race on Ladies’ Day of Glorious Goodwood, he asked me, as I am well known for charging off across country. The chance to learn a new kind of riding and race on the hallowed turf of the South Downs course was impossible to pass up.
And it is hallowed turf. Not only did the 5th Duke of Richmond’s friend Lord George Bentinck create the first horsebox to transport his horse Elis 250 miles to Doncaster to win the St Leger in 1836, but the pair cleaned up the sport and introduced elements familiar today, including flag starts and jockey silks. ‘The reform of racing was the 5th Duke’s biggest legacy,’ says James Peill, estate curator and the author of Glorious Goodwood. ‘It’s sometimes overshadowed by the glamour, but a lot of racing history has happened here.’
The Magnolia Cup was founded by the current, 11th, Duke, then the Earl of March, who wanted an event to raise money for charity and celebrate female jockeys. The name comes from the 2nd Duke’s enthusiasm for horticulture and the latest exotic to capture the attention of ‘brother gardeners’ in the 1730s; he wrote to supplier Peter Collinson about the plants of his late friend Lord Petre: ‘The small magnolias are confounded dear, butt I must have them, though I believe nobody else will be fool enough to buy any at that price.’
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