MORE TO RACING THAN WINNING

Racing's support for a very special charity

It was a fittingly poignant moment that, amongst the last of Paul Hanagan's victories before his retirement, should come on a two-year-old named Macarone. It was just a nursery at Beverley that the Craig Lidster-trained colt won, with first prize money of just £3,742.

Yet, more significantly, the horse is owned by the Rob Burrow Racing Club, named after the former Leeds Rhinos rugby league star who lives with motor neurone disease (MND), and which is part of the Good Racing Company, formed in October 2020 by entrepreneur and racing enthusiast Phil Hawthorne as an innovative way to fundraise through horse racing.

Hanagan has been appointed director of racing for the GRC, having been an ambassador for the organisation in the last year.