Ex-amateur jockey takes on 'wildest horserace on Earth' to raise funds for IJF

Former amateur jockey Otto Hopkins-Fagan is raising money for the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF) by tackling the "wildest horserace on earth" in South Africa next month.

Race the Wild Coast, created in 2016 in the style of the famous Mongol Derby, lasts five days taking in 350 kilometres and featuring 33 river crossings.

Hopkins-Fagan, 27, worked for trainers including Sir Mark Prescott, David Elsworth, Henrietta Knight and Tom George before retiring from the saddle due to injury and weight issues.

Dubbed the "wildest horserace on earth" by race organisers, Race the Wild Coast begins on October 22 with participants setting off from Port Edward and heading along the eastern seaboard of South Africa to the finish line in Kei Mouth.

Each rider has a team of three horses and they swim alongside their horses across the 33 river crossings. Competitors are warned by the organisers that "this race will be a complex combination of endurance, horsemanship, navigation, strategy and what Mother Nature throws at you!"

Hopkins-Fagan has been training at the new Peter O'Sullevan House in Newmarket

The race is considered too wild to be followed by vehicle, with a professional film crew in a helicopter following the action instead. Vet checks are performed every 40km by world-renowned teams.

Hopkins-Fagan, a resident at Oaksey House in 2010, is training at the new Peter O'Sullevan House and said: "Committing to the race and raising money for the IJF has reminded me of how exciting the industry is and how incredible the individuals are that you come across on a daily basis. The team at the IJF are simply amazing."

To support Hopkins-Fagan and the IJF, visit the fundraising page here.

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