Victoria Pendleton leads from start to finish to win first race

Victoria Pendleton made every yard of the running to notch her first win as a jockey aboard Pacha Du Polder in the Betfair Switching Saddles Hunters' Chase at Wincanton.

The dual Olympic cycling champion was unshipped from Paul Nicholls’s charge on her first start under National Hunt Rules at Fakenham just under two weeks ago, but the duo made no mistake this time.

Sharply away, Pendleton survived a couple of sticky leaps to triumph aboard the 5-4 favourite, running out a 29-length winner.

Pendleton was positive from off, having tried to come from behind at Fakenham, and got her mount to the front from the beginning.

Her task was somewhat eased when Gauvain, who looked a likely rival, crashed out at the sixth, but Pendleton herself had to survive a slightly shaky jump at the eighth as well as a slow leap at the 10th.

However, she managed to get Pacha Du Polder back on an even keel before kicking for home with two to jump.

She negotiated both of those obstacles with the minimum of fuss, cruising home from Big Fella Thanks to a warm reception from the Wincanton crowd.

Pendleton said: “It was fantastic. I really just wanted a good round. I wanted to get round on the horse and give him a ride he deserved because he’s Pacha Du Polder and he is a lovely horse.

“I feel very honoured and lucky to be allowed to ride such a wonderful animal.

“I was very frustrated (after Fakenham) but also I know that this sport is full of thrills and spills – that can happen, it’s racing.

“When I started this challenge, people said, ‘You know you’re going to fall off, don’t you?’ and I said, ‘Yes, I know’, but it’s a very small price to pay for the joy you get in riding a thoroughbred racehorse.

“I didn’t want to be caught out again at the start. In a couple of point-to-points recently I have done the same thing, I’ve been trying to be calm and relaxed and really missed the start and I didn’t want to do it again.

“I tried to pop out quite handy and get amongst it.

“I love riding out. I feel joy driving to the yard in a morning and seeing all the horses faces.

“I love the sound of them munching haylage, I love everything about them.

“Being able to gallop a racehorse, the feeling you get, or school a racehorse over jumps, it’s like you’re flying.

“Nothing really compares to it. It’s such a special and exclusive feeling and I feel very lucky to have been given my chance to find my way into this sport and it’s one I’m not going to be leaving soon.

“Bikes are great, I’ve had a lovely career in cycling and I would never change a thing and without it I would never be here, but it’s the partnership you have with a horse.

“It’s learning about their personalities, the way they move, the way they feel - it’s all so different with every horse you meet.

“I’ve ridden 65 different horses so far this year and every one of them is different, it amazes me.

“I feel honoured to be able to do this right now, I really do.”

Pendleton now faces a crucial few days with her support team, which includes Nicholls and jumping guru Yogi Breisner as well as Lawney and Alan Hill, from whose yard she has been riding out, set to discuss her ultimate aim of riding at the Cheltenham Festival.

The long-term ambition for Pendleton was to ride in the St James’s Place Foxhunter Chase at the main meeting later this month and her team will now assess the viability of her once again partnering Pacha Du Polder in the amateur equivalent of the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

An announcement on her participation is expected on Monday.

Pendleton said: “I will be doing some point to points (this weekend) and then I’ll see what the experts around me decide and I’ll go with their choice.

“I’ll still be riding the rest of the season.”