Khadijah Mellah, 18, has just taken her A-Levels. On 1 August she’ll be on the starting line at Goodwood alongside Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton and model Vogue Williams in an all-women charity race.
Run-up to race day
Documentary film-makers Tom Bolwell and Mattia Reiniger will film Khadijah’s life in the run up to race day. The Racing Foundation plan to screen the film – also including Ebony Horse Club and Khadijah’s home life, including the recent Eid celebrations, in Brixton is September/October.
Pony to racehorse
Khadijah has combined school with a fitness training and mental preparation to graduate from riding Ebony Horse Club ponies to competing on a 40mph thoroughbred racehorse before a capacity crowd of 25,000. She said, “I am super-duper excited about the Magnolia Cup. Last month at Newmarket was my first time on a racecourse: it was good to get my head around what raceday is like. It’s going to be a busy few months with my A-Levels as well but I can’t wait to get going.”
Shine a light on Ebony
ITV Racing presenter Oli Bell, a patron of Ebony Horse Club said, “We’re all so impressed with her commitment and drive. She’s a great personality and a brilliant rider and we’ll be rooting for her. I’m incredibly excited about the documentary and its potential to shine a light on Ebony’s brilliant work and the ways it is opening up opportunities in racing.”
Inspire the imagination
Rod Street, Chief Executive of Great British Racing (official partner of the film) said, “We need to do much more to broaden the appeal of racing and we hope that Khadijah’s story will inspire and capture people’s imagination about horses –at Ebony or on a racecourse – and prompt more people to consider the sport.”
For more information
- For more about Great British Racing please contact their head of PR,
- For more about Ebony Horse Club community riding centre see their information pages
- For more about the Racing Foundation charity see their website
- Book tickets and hospitality packages for Goodwood’s 2019 fixtures online
- This year’s Magnolia Cup supports Wellbeing of Women, Britain’s leading charity funding medical research into women’s reproductive and gynaecological health.
- Filmmakers Tom Bolwell and Mattia Reiniger are currently producing a documentary about the Homeless World Cup and helped shoot 2019 Oscar-nominated documentary, BLACK SHEEP
