Warwick Racecourse has helped to save around 30 lives with money raised for the Air Ambulance Service from its traditional curtain raiser to The Cheltenham Festival. 

The Air Ambulance Countryside Day will take place on Mother’s Day, Sunday, March 11, just two days ahead of the nation’s biggest festival of Jump racing, and will feature a host of attractions for families to enjoy.

This is the third year that Warwick Racecourse has been supporting the Air Ambulance Service, and around £50,000 has so far been raised from this raceday and a Jockey Club Challenge Charity Race held during the May Racing Carnival.

It is again hosting a lunch and Cheltenham Festival Preview in the Paddock Pavilion for the charity with this year’s panel featuring Grand National winning jockey Jason Maguire and leading trainers Dan Skelton and sports broadcaster Rupert Bell.

Other entertainment on the day will include duck herding demonstrations, magicians, falconry, stilt walkers, pony rides and face painting, alongside the top racing action on the track.

Andre Klein, General Manager at Warwick Racecourse, said: “It is fantastic to be supporting the Air Ambulance Service for a third successive year and to have so far raised around £50,000.

“The raceday continues to be a great opportunity to raise awareness of the work carried out by the Air Ambulance Service and enjoy a great afternoon of family fun and racing too.

“With it falling on Mother’s Day this year, it’s a great opportunity to treat your Mum with a day at the races, with plenty of countryside activities to keep children entertained!

“In recent years, Warwick has been a proving ground for some of the top horses across the country ahead of The Festival and if you attend the Air Ambulance Service preview you can get the perfect brief before racing gets underway at Cheltenham.”

The Air Ambulance Service recently completed its 30,000th mission and panellist Jason Maguire is a patron of the charity which helped saved his life.

Jo Payne, National Partnerships Manager for the Air Ambulance Service, said: “The Warwick raceday is an important fundraiser in our calendar and well-established as an annual event. 

“The equine community appreciate the work of our crew and are very generous in getting behind us, as are the race-going public.  We have raised around £50,000 at Warwick Racecourse and this has enabled us to save around 30 people’s lives.

“It is a great day at Warwick Racecourse and it’s a very friendly and welcoming place to come for a day at the races.  I would urge everyone to join us and as it’s Mother’s Day, why not spoil your Mum - we’ll make sure you all have a great day out.”

Tickets for the Air Ambulance Service Cheltenham Preview cost £80 per person and include the preview panel, private marquee, drinks reception, lunch and a tipster session. To book email Jo.Payne@theairambulanceservice.org.uk or call 07825 840150.

Gates open at 12.20pm, with the first of seven races at 2.20pm and the last at 5.30pm.

General admission is £12.50, if booked by midnight on March 3, and will be £20 on the day. For more information go to www.warwickracecourse.co.uk

ENDS

PICTURE CAPTION: Lily Witherford (Events Executive at Warwick Racecourse) with Captain Dave Usher and Dr Laura Owen from the Air Ambulance Service.

 

Notes to Editors – Warwick Racecourse

 

Notes to Editors

 

Warwick Racecourse is one of the oldest racecourses in the country and the first to stage a jump race as part of a racecard in 1831, effectively establishing the National Hunt sport. In 2014, it became an all-jumps track with a five-year plan to become one of the UK’s leading small jumps courses. Dan Skelton, one of the country’s brightest young National Hunt trainers, is its ambassador.

 

Attendances for 2016 (41,604) were up 28 per cent on the previous year – the biggest like for like percentage increase in attendances of any racecourse in the country.

 

Fixture highlights include the Grade 2 Leamington Novices’ Hurdle (Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle), Grade 2 Kingmaker Novices’ Chase and Grade 3 handicap Betfred Classic Chase.

 

High-quality racing takes place on weekdays and weekends, and afternoons and evenings, from September to May, with a range of meetings to appeal to racing regulars and newcomers alike.  More information is available at www.warwickracecourse.co.uk

 

Warwick Racecourse is part of The Jockey Club, which has been at the heart of British racing for more than 260 years.

 

Millions of people every year enjoy the special experiences The Jockey Club offers through racing, music, food and entertainment. Governed by Royal Charter, every penny made goes back into British Racing to help the sport thrive.

 

The Jockey Club was founded in 1750 and today is the largest commercial group in Britain's second-biggest spectator sport, operating 15 racecourses nationwide, The National Stud, Jockey Club Estates, Jockey Club Catering, Jockey Club Live and the charity, Racing Welfare. For more information, visit www.thejockeyclub.co.uk

 

Notes to Editors – The Air Ambulance Service

The Air Ambulance Service (TAAS) is the umbrella organisation for the Children’s Air Ambulance (a national transfer service for seriously ill children and babies), and two local air ambulances: Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) and Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA).
TAAS receives no government funding.
TAAS routinely carries senior doctors and consultants on board, in essence taking the hospital to the patient and allowing them to provide advanced treatment on scene.
TAAS’s state-of-the-art Agusta helicopters have a top speed of 185mph and are the fastest civilian helicopters available.
WNAA and DLRAA work together on collaborative operations at major trauma scenes. Between them they carry out 1,800 rescues a year.
Each children’s transfer they carry out costs an average of £2,800