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| Sumita Pawar |
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Caroline Miller, a 72 YO racing enthusiast, will be hoping that the popular old adage "Age is but a number" proves true as she takes on the Markel Magnolia Cup at Glorious Goodwood.
Miller described her story as resembling a fairytale from a children's book and eagerly accepted the opportunity to participate in the distinctive five-and-a-half-furlong race scheduled for next Friday.
"You have very attractive girls, ex-Olympians and celebrities riding in it usually and I'm just an ordinary person, but they asked me and I said okay," she said. "I've been riding out at Gary Moore's for two years because I'm obsessed and I want to keep fit.
"Because you're older, you cannot be deemed to be useless and I passed the jockey test on May 4. I do exercise classes, cardio and weights every day. I'm riding out three times a week and doing two lots. I'm upsides Tom Queally and Jamie Moore – it's extraordinary and my absolute dream. Even now I find it terribly difficult to leave the horses – they're just a magnet.
"I don't want to be like some of these older people, I've got too much energy and too much to do in life. I'm not on any pills, I don't ache and I'm not in any pain. If I can ride a racehorse down Goodwood's famous straight then I'll do it and I'm totally dedicated to it."
Chasing The Dream: Miller's Equestrian Triumphs
Miller grew up on a farm where she initially learned to ride on a donkey. However, her dreams of owning a horse were abandoned when her family had to sell the land and relocate to a small flat.
Despite pursuing a career in secretarial work and languages, Miller continued to ride in point-to-points for Joss Musson, a breeder who had won the Hennessy Gold Cup. She also obtained several equestrian qualifications. It didn't take long before she felt the strong attraction of racing pulling her back in.
"I ended up meeting Judith [cousin of former trainer Ian] Balding in my early 30s," Miller explains. "It was 1989 and I'd just had a baby, I was a single parent after meeting the wrong guy. I ended up riding out for Toby Balding when he had Beech Road and Morley Street, and I was there when Little Polvier and Jimmy Frost won the Grand National.
"When I was in my late 50s, Toby gave me a racehorse called Breezer. I had a full-time job, a teenage daughter and a new marriage and I thought, 'There's no way I can have a horse', but I did and he changed my life. He'd win when he wanted and he did. He's a monkey – I've still got him and he's 23."
'I want to really show I can ride'
Miller is expected to team up with Stormingin, a horse trained by Moore, in Friday's race. The race is being held to raise funds for Education Above All, a charity that supports education for at-risk girls in rural Malawi. Despite competing against women much younger than her, Miller is determined to leave her mark.
"I've got no chance of winning it because Stormingin's not got speed, he's ten and he runs over a mile and a half, so I'm really in the doldrums," she said of her chance. "I said to Jamie Moore, 'How do I win this race? I really want to win this race', and he said, 'Well, if you've got any form of competition you're done for'.
"Because I'm older I want to really show I can ride. Jamie said, 'Look, we want you safe' and I said, 'I don't want safe, I want speed!' I'm fine and I can handle it'. I'm very competitive and not nervous at all. Everybody's making such a fuss about my age but it's nothing."
On her plans for the future, she added: "If I don't do any good in this one I might try another charity race and they won't get rid of me any time soon at Gary's. I'll keep on doing that and anything else for charity – as long as it's not jumping out of an aeroplane!"