A NURSERY school worker is attempting to secure her place at British racing’s most famous meeting &ndash the Grand National Festival at Aintree.
Sara Morgan, 30, from Tarporley, has made it to the last 16 of the John Smith’s People’s Race. The event, in which members of the public are whittled down to a final 10 to race over nine furlongs on the flat on Grand National weekend in April, raises money for the riders’ charities. But Sara, once a nurse at the hospital but now deputy manager at School House Nursery in Delamere, wants to raise more by making the final 10. And training at Donald McCain’s Cholmondeley yard, she is able to draw on a wealth of Grand National experience and success. “I don’t think there is a better place to train for an event at Aintree,” said Sara. “Everyone here is really supportive and they obviously know what is required to win at Aintree as the McCain family has such famous links to the course.” And though Sara, if she makes it to the People’s Race, will not receive the same plaudits reserved for the McCain family’s Grand National winners Red Rum and Amberleigh House, she will have seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She could make up to &pound50,000 for her charity if she wins. “That is the target, that is the focus when I am in the gym,” she said. “It is hard work as I have to get up in the small hours to ride out before work, then do a full day’s work and then I’m in the gym almost every day.
“We have to be as fit as any other jockey and we also have to have very good riding skills.”