Daughter's death inspires breeder to raise funds for cancer charities with 'ideal horse to syndicate'

A horse has been donated for syndication by Old Gold Racing to raise funds for cervical cancer following the death of the daughter of breeder Peter Pritchard.

Pritchard lost his 37-year-old daughter Katie from the disease and has now joined forces with Grade 1-winning owners Old Gold Racing to increase awareness and raise money for The Lady Garden Foundation and Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust.

The filly Katie Sunny Dancer has been donated to the Katie's Legacy Syndicate for Alex Hales to train. There will be 2,000 shares available in the four-year-old, who is valued at £20,000. Each £60 share includes £10 of the horse's value and a £10 donation, all of which will be donated to charity. 

Old Gold Racing, which won the Sefton Novices' Hurdle at Aintree in April with Apple Away, will also donate 25 per cent of its management fees to The Myton Hospice, where Katie passed away. Once the syndicate is filled a total of £49,000 will have been made in charitable donations.

Pritchard, a breeder at Old Gold Racing, said: "Hopefully it could save a life – if it saves one person my daughter would be absolutely thrilled. I want to be positive now and do something. I'm confident the filly has the ability and I thought she was the ideal horse to put forward to syndicate and raise money for cervical cancer.

"Katie's illness came on very suddenly and as a great shock to the family. The original prognosis was that she could be cured but unfortunately after a certain amount of time they realised that the chemotherapy wasn't working and she was given a terminal diagnosis. 

"She passed away very quickly but she was positive until the end. She would be absolutely thrilled that we might be able to do some good. If a single person's life could be saved it would be phenomenal."

Louise Newton, trustee at Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, said: "We are honoured to be part of celebrating Katie’s life and we are dedicated to improving outcomes for people like her and her family. Our mission for the last 25 years has been to support and inform all of the many women who are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year in the UK. 

"Our vision for the future is of a day when cervical cancer is a thing of the past. This initiative will help us to work towards that goal.” 

The syndicate term will end on December 31 2024 and you can sign up to the waiting list here.

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