Victoria Pendleton to team up with Pacha Du Polder at Festival

Victoria Pendleton has been given a great opportunity of fulfilling her dream of riding in the St James’ Place Foxhunter Chase after Pacha Du Polder was made available to her as her potential mount at the Cheltenham Festival.

Pendleton will team up with the nine-year-old, who wears the famous colours of leading racehorse owner Andy Stewart, for the remainder of the point-to-point season with the ultimate aim of competing in the Foxhunter.

Pacha Du Polder was runner-up in the Crabbie’s Fox Hunters’ Chase at Aintree last year when trained by Paul Nicholls and is already qualified for the amateur riders’ Gold Cup at Cheltenham.

Pendleton said: “I’m delighted that Andy Stewart has kindly made Pacha Du Polder available for point-to-points and potentially Cheltenham.

“It’s great that an owner of Andy’s stature is putting his faith in me to ride one of his horses.”

• The Racecourse Association has announced attendances across Britain’s racecourses rose by 5.3% in 2015 to exceed the six million mark for the first time since 2011.

Total attendances across Britain’s 59 racecourses reached 6,129,433 last year, which was 309,463 more than 2014 and just 21,810 short of the 2011 record (6,151,243).

Average attendances also rose to 4,256 per fixture, a 4.4% increase on the 2014 figure of 4,076.

This is the highest average attendance since 2007 (4,376).