Victoria Pendleton is likely to have her place at the Cheltenham Festival confirmed at a press conference this morning but doubts over her safety there persist after she made “a novice mistake” and was unseated on the flat in a point-to-point on Saturday.
Pendleton, fresh from a first success at Wincanton last Wednesday, was back in the saddle at Kingston Blount, in Oxfordshire. Riding the Alan Hill-trained Supreme Danehill, she was in contention when she lost a stirrup and hit the ground on the run to the second-last fence.
Hill’s wife, Lawney, has been one of Pendleton’s mentors during her Betfair-backed “Switching Saddles” challenge and said: “Unfortunately she’s had a fall, but she got up and walked away and is perfectly all right.
“The horse pitched on landing after jumping the third-last. She did well to stay in the saddle, but unfortunately she lost one of her irons, became unbalanced and gravity won.
“It was a novice mistake and these things can happen. It was something only an experienced rider would have been able to cope with.”
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Pendleton walked away unscathed but said: “I just lost my iron and I couldn’t get my foot back in it. I was trying to get it back in but then I lost my balance. I’m fine but it’s annoying.”