A total of 14 riders went to post in the final leg of The Corinthian Challenge Charity Race Series for Irish Injured Jockeys (IIJ) at Leopardstown Racecourse on Saturday. The exciting charity race for amateurs was won by Kerry native Fiona Dowling aboard Vera Verto, owned by the From the Clouds Partnership and trained by Gavin Cromwell. Stan Begley was crowned overall Champion of the Corinthian Challenge for 2022, as he had the most points accumulated across the series having been placed in every race, the highlight being his win at Gowran Park last month.
Fiona Dowling started her career in the thoroughbred industry after finishing school and graduated from the Irish National Stud course in 2007. She started working for Gordon Elliott and led up Silver Birch to win the 2007 Aintree Grand National. During her time with Gordon, she rode two point-to-point winners. Since then, she has worked in the thoroughbred industry in the UK, USA, Australia, and New Zealand. Over the past five years, she moved into the educational sector and earlier this year the Kerry woman moved back to Ireland and joined the fantastic team at the Racing Academy Centre of Excellence R.A.C.E. in Co. Kildare.
Fiona commented, "I was absolutely over the moon to partner Vera Verto to victory in the final race of the challenge at Leopardstown. It's always been a personal goal of mine to ride a winner on the racecourse so Saturday really was a dream come true. I am very grateful to Gavin Cromwell, his team and the owners for the opportunity. I would like to thank everyone who has supported all the riders throughout the challenge and the atmosphere on race days has been incredible! Everyone has put so much effort in and the injured jockeys fund team have done so much to ensure everyone has the best experience possible. It's great to know that everyone's fundraising efforts are going to such a worthy cause. The series is a great initiative to raise vital money for the injured Jockeys fund and I would like to thank each and everyone who has supported me in particular, my main sponsors Gain Equine Nutrition and also Healy Racing Photography. Taking part in the challenge is a big commitment but I've made lifelong friends and had the chance to realise a lifelong dream and for that, I cannot be more grateful.”
Leopardstown 22-October-2022.Vero Verto won Corinthian Challenge Charity Race for jockey Fiona Dowling.
Healy Racing
The Corinthian Challenge is a popular annual charity race series run by Irish Injured Jockeys Fund to raise awareness and much needed funds for the national charity. Challengers are essentially volunteers who apply to participate in the three-race series, they each get the chance to experience first hand of what it is like to be a jockey from training and fitness to race preparation right through to riding on the track at The Curragh, Gowran Park and Leopardstown respectively.
17/07/2022. The Irish Injured Jockeys Corinthian Challenge Charity Race at The Curragh Racecourse. Photograph: Patrick BrowneDuring the course of the series, challengers are also tasked with raising awareness and much needed funds for Irish Injured Jockeys. The Corinthian Challenge Charity Race Series is an extremely successful fundraising initiative for Irish Injured Jockey. To date, it has raised over €500,000, with this year’s crew within reach of their collective target of €140,000. It’s not too late to donate and support their fundraising efforts online or indeed if you wish to express your interest in riding in the 2023 Corinthian Challenge for Irish Injured Jockeys simply visit www.corinthianchallenge.com.
