Horses for good causes: Dr Amanda Cross to race at Goodwood

Dr Amanda Cross training ahead of the Magnolia Cup

Dr Amanda Cross to compete in 2018 Magnolia Cup at Goodwood Racecourse.

Dr Amanda Cross, Reader in Cancer Epidemiology at the School of Public Health and Head of the Cancer Screening and Prevention Research Group in the Department of Surgery and Cancer, will be taking part in the 2018 Magnolia Cup at Goodwood to raise money for Cancer Research UK (CRUK).

The Magnolia Cup is a race over five-and-a-half-furlongs in front of a capacity crowd at ‘Glorious Goodwood’ on Ladies Day, August 2. The competitors feature a field of inspirational women from the worlds of business, sport, fashion, medicine and media. Now in its eighth year, the Magnolia Cup has raised over £1.2million for a number of charities, this year’s chosen charity is CRUK.

Dr Amanda Cross’ research focuses on understanding risk factors for gastrointestinal cancers and determining the best ways to screen for these cancers in order to prevent them or at least detect them at an early stage.

“My research team consists of 14 people all working directly on numerous studies related to cancer screening, prevention and early detection. As a team, we rely solely on grants from charities, such as CRUK, or the NHS research arm. A large proportion of our research and all my staff are funded by CRUK, so without money raised through events like the Magnolia Cup, my team of experts who dedicate their lives to beating cancer sooner simply wouldn’t exist.”

Amanda is not a novice when it comes to horses - she used to compete in eventing, a triathlon for horses consisting of dressage, show jumping and cross country, but she has no experience in racing. “Someone at CRUK said that they’d heard that ‘Amanda at Imperial’ is ‘horsey’ and wouldn’t it be cool to have a cancer researcher in the race – what they didn’t know was that loving horses doesn’t give you any right to get involved in the world of racing, which is completely different to any other form of riding and involves very small saddles, very short stirrups and going very fast – speeds of up to 40mph.”

“I am honoured to be part of this exciting collaboration which brings together my love of horses and my passion for cancer research – I just didn’t anticipate having to go so fast on a horse in front of so many people to raise money for CRUK.”

“Racing is not something I have any experience in so I’m hoping the whole endeavour doesn’t backfire! But I’m committed to trying to make it or fake it as a jockey – even if that means me running on my cross trainer at 11pm at night when I get home to Northamptonshire after a day at work in London. Because it’s not just about getting on a horse and holding on for dear life – we also had to pass the British Racing School fitness test and riding assessment, which was no mean feat.

For Amanda it is all about the end goal and supporting an organisation that has supported her work: “Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of progress towards beating cancer in the UK. Cancer Research UK and its researchers continue to tackle this terrible disease on all fronts – helping to prevent, and also to improve diagnosis and treatment of, all 200 types of cancer and help work towards Cancer Research UK’s goal to ensure that by the year 2034, 3 out of 4 people survive for at least 10 years after their cancer diagnosis.

If you would like to support Dr Amanda Cross you can do so through her CRUK fundraising page.