Warwick track welcomes dad's 3,000 mile racecourse walk

Walking The Courses is the biggest horse racing charity effort to date and will see Richard Farquhar arriving in the town on Friday as part of his bid to connect all of the UK’s 60 racecourses on foot.

The 53-year-old began his gruelling journey in March last year and has so far covered most of the 3,000 miles needed in hope of raising £1.4million for Racing Welfare and Pancreatic Cancer UK.

The father-of-four is due to arrive at Warwick on the morning of February 26 which will mark a total of 2,5151 miles walked to date.

During the final 11-mile march from Stratford, he will be joined by racers and their families - and his efforts will be marked with the fifth race of the afternoon - the Walking The Courses Handicap Chase.

The father of four, who has only five racecourses left on his mission, said he was inspired to undertake the year-long challenge after losing his father, Peter to pancreatic cancer in 2012.

He said: “There would have been no one more enthusiastic about Walking The Courses than Peter himself, though his long-standing resistance to exercise would have certainly ruled out any physical involvement on his part.”

The racing enthusiast will end the latest leg of his journey with a lap of the Warwick racetrack to finish at the winning post.

And he hopes that trainers, jockeys and supporters will join him on this lap of the track to help raise support.

A total of £330,000 has already been towards the target, and the team will collect funds in Warwick through the day.

To find out more or get involved, visit www.walkingthecourses.com.