Prince Harry to visit Newbury Racecourse
The royal will be attending the Betfair Super Saturday as a charity patron
NEXT weekend's Betfair Super Saturday at Newbury Racecourse will be made all the more exciting for racegoers as Prince Harry has confirmed this morning that he will attend the event.
The royal is a patron of the charity Walking With The Wounded (WWTW) 2012 Everest Challenge, and the second race at the Newbury course on Saturday, February 11 has been renamed by Betfair in recognition of the charity to ‘Betfair Supports Walking With The Wounded Handicap Hurdle', with the winning trophy to be presented by Prince Harry.
This race will be broadcast live on Channel 4 television.
During the afternoon at the racecourse, Prince Harry will spend time with the 2012 Everest Summit Team, which consists of nine people: four members of the Base Camp Team and five members of the Summit Team.
The five attempting to reach the summit of Mount Everest are all wounded servicemen.
All members taking on the challenge in May this year will attend the race day with Prince Harry next Saturday, including: Captain Martin Hewitt, Private Jaco Van Gass, Private Karl Hinett, Captain David Wiseman, Doctor Francis Atkinson, Private Daniel Majid, Wing Sergeant Andy Hawkins, Private Manindra Rai, Rifleman Chris Gwilt.
In April last year, Prince Harry spent four days trekking to the North Pole with some of these same team members in a bid to help raise £2m for the charity, which assists with the re-training and re-education of servicemen and women, both veterans and those leaving the Armed Forces.
During their successful 2011 expedition, they became the first team of unsupported war-wounded amputees to reach the Geographical North Pole.
Stephen Higgins, Managing Director, Racecourse and Events, said: “We are delighted that Prince Harry will be joining us on Betfair Super Saturday in his role supporting the Walking With The Wounded 2012 Everest team and we look forward to welcoming him, along with everyone, to what is shaping into a superb afternoon both on and off the track.”
Off the track, racegoers will have chance to try out an Everest climbing wall, and meet members of the WWTW 2011 North Pole and 2012 Everest challenge teams, who will be signing copies of the Walking with the Wounded book, a tale of their North Pole expedition.
Betfair Super Saturday features seven races including the Betfair Hurdle, Europe's richest handicap hurdle, the Grade 2 Betfair Denman Chase as well the Grade 2 Betfair Super Saturday Chase.
