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13 April 2023

Star billing for former racehorses in Aintree Parade

A 10-horse parade of former racehorses will line up before racing on the second day of the Randox Health Grand National Festival on Friday, 14th April. The parade will be led by Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) Horses for Courses Equine Ambassador Definitly Red, who will make his first appearance in front of a raceday crowd since his racing days. The parade will showcase the versatility of the thoroughbred in their careers after racing.

Joining Definitly Red, the two-time winner of the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree, will be another course specialist in Top Wood, who was victorious in the Foxhunters when trained by Kelly Morgan.

David Catlow, Managing Director of Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), said: “Our thanks to Aintree and Jockey Club Racecourses for giving us the opportunity to put together a great line-up of horses. The RoR Parades are designed to educate racegoers whilst offering them a chance to witness first-hand the many different second career options open to racehorses once they retire from racing.”

Another Aintree favourite who lines up in the parade is Highland Lodge who ran a total of eight times at the track, winning the Becher Chase in 2015 over the National fences. In their second careers, these three horses have tried a variety of disciplines from hunting and team chasing to showing.

However, some of the retirees who make up the rest of the parade have been re-trained in less traditional disciplines. Whilst Peveril Point and Touch of Faith never made huge impacts on the track during their racing careers, both have reached international levels in their new discipline of horseball. Horseball is a team sport similar to basketball on horseback. They have been retrained by the husband and wife team of David and Jude Worthington, a new career that has converted them into leading players in the horseball leagues.

The full parade line up is as follows:

  1. DEFINITLY RED – ridden by Andrew Robertson
    14-year-old by Definite Article, formerly trained by Brian Ellison
  2. DUKE OF NAVAN – ridden by Kelly Harding
    15-year-old by Presenting, formerly trained by Nicky Richards
  3. EARLY SHIRLEY – ridden by Claudia Jones
    14-year-old mare by Piccolo, formerly trained by Kevin Ryan
  4. HIGHLAND LODGE – ridden by Paul Thompson
    17-year-old by Flemensfirth, formerly trained by Jimmy Moffott
  5. NET DE TREVE – ridden by Laura Gibson
    10-year-old by Network, formerly trained by Tom George
  6. PEVERIL POINT – ridden by David Worthington
    8-year-old gelding by Canford Cliffs, formerly trained by Henry Tett
  7. TOUCH OF FAITH – ridden by Jude Worthington
    9-year-old gelding by Zoffany, formerly trained by Michael Appleby
  8. TAKINGRISKS – ridden by Catherine Walton
    13-year-old by Golden Tornado, formerly trained by Nicky Richards
  9. TOP WOOD – ridden by Jasean Spragatt
    16-year-old by Kotky Bleu, formerly trained by Kelly Morgan
  10. WALK IN THE MILL – ridden by Dido Harding
    13-year-old by Walk In The Park, formerly trained by Robert Walford
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