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On Friday 20th March 2015, people from all corners of the racing industry gathered at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Racecourse to give fundraiser and walker, Richard Farquhar, a send-off to remember for the first leg of his epic fundraising venture, Walking The Courses. From Newmarket, Richard set out on a 72 mile walk to Towcester Racecourse, where he arrived for the race meeting on Monday 23rd March. The next time that Richard is seen at the ‘home of horse racing’ will be in April 2016, by which time he will have covered approximately 3,000 miles on foot and linked all sixty racecourses in mainland Britain, bit by bit, in what will eventually resemble an unbroken chain. By then, Richard hopes to have hit his ambitious target of £1.4m, to have involved people from all across the UK in his challenge – including notable individuals within the racing world – and partnered with some of the biggest corporates within the racing industry.

Already, Richard has attracted donations and pledges to the sum of more than £150,000: a great platform from which to chase his fundraising target of £1.4million in aid of Pancreatic Cancer UK and Racing Welfare. The former of these two beneficiaries is the only UK charity fighting pancreatic cancer – the most vicious of all 21 common cancers, with a five-year survival rate of less than 4% (the same rate as in 1975) – on all fronts: information, support, research and campaigning. Pancreatic cancer was the disease that claimed the lives of racing legends Dessie Hughes and John Hills in 2014 alone, as well as Richard’s father a couple of years previously. The latter of the two chosen charities, Racing Welfare, provides professional guidance and practical help to the unseen army of dedicated staff whose work is vital for the well-being of horse racing.

Walking The Courses is officially supported by many notable individuals within the horse racing industry. These include Clare Balding, Cornelius Lysaght (BBC), Charlie Hills, Oliver Sherwood, Lord Grimthorpe (Juddmonte Farms), Roger Weatherby (Weatherbys Ltd), Henry Beeby (DBS & Goffs), Nick Luck (Channel 4), Jonjo O’Neill and Roger Waley-Cohen, to name but a few.

Walking The Courses is currently sponsored by Liontrust Asset Management Plc, Weatherbys Ltd and Subaru UK, the latter of which is providing a Subaru Outback (2015 series) as the support vehicle for the duration of the campaign. Walking The Courses is extremely grateful to these companies for their sponsorship. The campaign is also being significantly supported by Sky’s horse racing channel, At The Races, who are committed to producing coverage throughout the thirteen months of the project. Walking The Courses will continue to seek further corporate support throughout the campaign.

Walking The Courses supporter Henry Beeby, Group CEO of Goffs and DBS, comments, “Richard’s Walk is making a significant contribution to helping so many. I am full of admiration for his energy, courage and inventiveness and hope that the whole of the racing industry really gets behind him”.

To find out more about Walking The Courses and to get involved, visit www.walkingthecourses.com.