Blisters, banter and big hearts: how racing put its best foot forward on an incredible charity mission
Reported by the Racing Post via Matt Rennie on 15 July 2025
It’s 4.30am when the iPhone alarm clock chimes and just over an hour later I’m with a rabble of trainers at the top of a field. It could be on any gallop at the crack of dawn, but this is no normal morning.
We’re gathered in the shadows of Whitby Abbey, famed for its role in Bram Stoker’s classic horror novel Dracula, but we aren’t here to hunt for vampires before the Sunday sun rises. We’re here for something much more real.
Later that day, the Abbey ruins will be the end of a gruelling hike across one of the toughest coastal areas of North Yorkshire. From staggering cliff escarpments to secretive smugglers’ coves, the scenery will be brilliant, and so too are the people we’re doing this for. This is the Castle to Abbey Challenge for Racing Welfare.
A determined 80-strong group, which also includes jockeys, stud hands, media personalities and even racing fans, are oblivious to how much of a ‘challenge’ this will be as we hop on the half-hour bus journey to the starting point. Under the gaze of Scarborough Castle we await starting orders, just before a final motivational push from Racing Welfare’s chief executive Dawn Goodfellow.
“Welcome to God’s country!” she says. “What you’ve all done already with the money raised so far has been nothing short of amazing – we couldn’t do it without you.”
Getting the donations is easy; now comes the hard part. Bang on 8am, the 22-mile push begins on the beach.
The huge group quickly spreads out, as syndicate supremo Sam Hoskins falls into line with me. His trips north usually involve seeing his runners for Kennett Valley Thoroughbreds or Hot To Trot Racing run, but he’s in the spotlight himself this time.
“Our syndicates support one charity each year, and we really wanted to push for Racing Welfare,” he says. “Hearing from trainers, life in the likes of Newmarket and Lambourn isn’t as glamorous as made out sometimes and, come rain or shine, people there are keeping the show on the road at unsociable hours.
“That must be so tough, but Racing Welfare is always there to look after one’s own, no matter who you are.”
The midges are a menace to our skin as we reach our first checkpoint five miles away at Cloughton. The sugary snacks come out to keep the stomping sweet – just as the great British weather turns sour.
In under two hours it’s gone from a sun-drenched stroll to a soaking. It makes us all take what lies ahead more seriously as we reach Cloughton Wyke.
“If these walking poles can be of use for 0.1 per cent of this then they’ve done their job,” says Emma Lavelle. The Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer is no stranger to a challenge like this.
“I did the Ridgeway 40 when I was younger but I’m so far from being a pro,” she tells me as we trudge up another slippery set of rocky steps. “I genuinely couldn’t walk for a week after that, and I won’t be walking any further than I need to this time!”
Our next obstacle lies in wait just minutes later. The crystal-clear sea, lush green plants and trickling waterfall of Hayburn Wyke could have been lifted from any tropical paradise, but the relentless rain and sodden socks and shoes make it more like the Somme.
We march on towards halfway. Left, right, left, right. Stomp, squelch, stomp, squelch. Thankfully, half an hour on from the Wyke the deluge dies off.
Andrew Balding has caught up to our rabble by now and, keeping our motivation up, we chat about all things cricket and football (for our saints and sins, he’s Southampton and I’m Sunderland) until Ravenscar reaches us at midday – 11 miles down, 11 to go.
One of our guides tells us we are two and a half hours ahead of schedule. Whether that’s true or a tactical motivational hit during our lunch pit-stop we’ll never know.
Food and drink is taken on, including a magnificent hamper for the Baldings, but there’s no rest for the wicked and why we are really here is not lost on Lavelle.
“The high point is being able to stuff myself full of sweets and chocolate and not feel bad about it, but I’m doing it for a purpose,” she says. “Racing Welfare is there for everybody in racing and we need to ensure it’s properly funded.
“No matter how serious it is, they always step up to the plate – even just as a sounding board. If somebody comes to us with an issue we don’t necessarily know how to handle, you can speak to people there and they will give you the right advice.”
Our chit-chat continues as we set off again – and very nearly take the wrong path. The near-catastrophic mistake doesn’t go unnoticed. Eve Johnson Houghton instructs, “Give it some welly up there”, while Anna-Lisa Balding chimes, “Don’t make it more interesting than it already is!”
“This is what I have to put up with, yipping from the back there in the cheap seats,” Lavelle jokingly hits back. “I said not to put me in front as Anna-Lisa was setting an excellent pace, and now I’m under pressure.”
We pass around the remains of the Peak Alum mine and Robin Hood’s Bay is in our sights, but it doesn’t appear to get any closer the further we stomp on. An hour on, it’s still like a mirage as Boggle Hole awaits.
The secluded smugglers’ cove takes its toll on the already depleted group. We remain together as we drop down to the beachfront but are more spread out than the Eider Chase field after a century of steps back up. This young hack really begins to feel the pinch too, but the trusted Maoam Squashies stop the right leg from cramping up.
Finally, we reach Robin Hood’s Bay. The swirling smell of fish and chips tempts you into stopping, but we’re inching towards to the finish. There’s just six miles to go and Anna-Lisa Balding rallies the troops.
“We’re on the home stretch!” she calls out to us tucked in behind, but she and Lavelle streak clear over the now-rolling green clifftops. I’m fading quicker than a Ballydoyle pacemaker.
With just an hour to go, every rookie hiker’s nightmare rears its ugly head. Negotiating the final excruciating steps just outside the village of Hawsker, there’s the first blister pop. It’s another unwelcome boot squelch.
Plasters come to my rescue, just as Warren Greatrex soldiers on past. The hike is poignant for the Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer after unthinkable tragedies for his yard.
Three young members of staff, Michael Pitt, David Thompson and Billy Moffatt, took their own lives in the last five years. During the darkest times afterwards, Racing Welfare was always there for Greatrex’s team. This is his thank you to them.
“There are probably times out here when I was thinking this is getting a bit too tough, but then I had the lads in my thoughts,” he says. “I’m doing it for them and for a very meaningful reason to will me on to the end.
“What happened to them was so sad, but Racing Welfare has been a rock for my yard, friends and family. I take my hat off to every single person there for what they do. To take one day out of the year to do this was the least I could do, and everyone’s smashing it.”
What Greatrex’s team went through brings you back to reality. The knees ache and the toes are battered and bruised, but this challenge is nothing compared to what many face in our sport, or what Racing Welfare faces to keep running in today’s climate.
Just after 4pm, a now-sun-kissed Whitby Abbey welcomes us across the finish line. Eight hours and two minutes from that beach front, the boots are kicked off and the feet look like Dracula has had a field day with them.
“I’ve never walked so far in my life,” Group 1-winning jockey Charlie Bishop adds as he congratulates the finishers, even if he was pipped by Finn Apiafi as the first one home.
The final finishers crossed the line at 7.15pm, but this was never about winning or losing, as Bishop says: “My legs are like jelly, but I don’t mind that. The main thing is I really hope we can all get Racing Welfare a few more quid in the bank.
“Jockeys are just a small number of people in our industry, but Racing Welfare covers the whole package; whether it be the staff, farriers, or anyone involved. It’s wonderful to give something back.”
Goodfellow is on hand to welcome us back, and she echoes Bishop’s thoughts.
“I really hope we can crack £100,000 as that would be one of the biggest amounts we’ve raised through this method, if not the biggest,” she says. “I’m absolutely blown away by what everyone’s achieved.
“Our cohort aren’t sitting in front of computers – they are spread out geographically – so getting the message out there that we are here is vital. Seeing so many people do this from all areas of racing has been truly heartwarming.”
Goodfellow’s wish was granted when the donations rolled in afterwards, taking the total into the magic six figures with more than £103,000 raised. Racing well and truly cracked the Castle to Abbey Challenge.
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