Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.  I am Bob Bracken, a school caretaker living in Dorset, but on 13th June 2015 I will be one of twelve amateur jockeys lining up to compete in the Macmillan Charity Race at York Racecourse.

I have been involved with horses for most of my life.  I learned to ride as a teenager, and dreamed of becoming a jockey.  Family tradition however meant that at 17 I followed my father and grandfather into the military and I joined the Royal Air Force.  I was able to keep riding during my time in the RAF, and often rode out for trainers local to wherever I was based.  Towards the end of my time with the RAF I opted to take a resettlement course to help me get a job in civilian life, and chose to use this course to help me achieve my dream of becoming a jockey.  A spell at Michael Dickinson's yard convinced me that racing was what I wanted to do, and over the next few years I gained valuable experience working in a variety of racing yards, riding some great (and not-so-great!) horses.

Ultimately though I found work away from racing, but never lost my love of horses or my interest in the sport, and eventually I began to long to get back in the saddle,  In my early 40's I decided to follow my other passion in life, history, and began a degree in archaeology.  Student life gave me the spare time and the opportunity to begin riding again, and I started to ride out for Robin Dickin.  I was pleased to find that I could still ride and work a horse as effectively as I could when I was a young man, and I rode out for Robin for several years.

Recently I relocated to Dorset and once again I felt that I wanted to resume my riding career, albeit on a low-key basis. In November 2014 my wife, Erica, spotted an advertisement for the Macmillan Charity Race and I decided to apply.  To my delight and amazement I was chosen to be one of the twelve riders in the race, and the last few weeks have been a blur of aching muscles as I have started to ride out for local trainer Paul Henderson.

Being chosen to ride in the Macmillan Charity Race is a dream come true, but the main reason for doing it is to raise much-needed funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.  This charity provides invaluable help and support to people living with cancer, and both my late mother and now my father-in-law have benefitted from their services, and many of my friends and colleagues have also been helped, either personally, or as a family as well.

Join me in my journey as I prepare for the big day, and help me to raise funds to enable Macmillan to help others in the way my family and I have been helped.  We never know when cancer may strike us or our loved ones, and the dedicated people at Macmillan deserve our wholehearted thanks and support.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

See you on the gallops!  You can also follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BobBrackenridesagain

Bob Bracken