Blackpool charity horse race stalwart will race at Newmarket

Charity race legend Maurice McCarthy is among supporters of The Countryside Alliance Foundation (TCAF) from across the East of England, Gloucestershire and the Thames Valley who will race on Newmarket's famous July Course at the Countryside Race Day on Thursday 23 June.

The charity race is being run in aid of TCAF's charities Fishing 4 Schools, Falconry for Schools and Casting for Recovery and will be contested over eight furlongs, on mostly borrowed horses.

A legend in the charity race world, this will be Maurice's 28^th charity race. He claims he has raised more charity money than any other jockey – more than £100,000 in the past 10 years – for causes including the Injured Jockeys' Fund, Children in Need, Macmillan Cancer Relief and of course the Countryside Alliance, for whom he has raised around £15,000 over the years. He is being sponsored for Newmarket by bookmakers Coral and Spreadex.

Maurice, who runs McCarthy Waste Management Ltd and did not sit on a horse until he was 36, said: "I have taken part in a quite a few races over the years, winning at Lingfield in 2013 and being placed in a number of others, but my real ambition is to take part in the Grand National!"

Newmarket celebrates its 350^th anniversary this year and there will be a full day's racing following the charity race at 1pm.

Tickets cost £65 and include a champagne reception, lunch and auction in the Moorestyle Marquee, entry to the members' enclosure and a race card. To purchase, please contact Hattie Roger-Smith at [email protected], telephone 0207 8409298.