26 November 2009 Guy Disney to organise Charity Ball
by Carolyn Tanner
GUY DISNEY: aboard Whosethatfor at Cottenham
photo: Steve Hunt
Amateur rider Lt Guy Disney, who lost the lower part of his right leg when on duty in Afghanistan in July, is helping to organise a Military Charity Ball at Cheltenham racecourse on February 13th, 2010.
The beneficiaries are the Army Benevolent Fund, the Mark Evison Foundation, set up in memory of a young officer killed in action in May, and Guy's own regiment, the Light Dragoons Charitable Trust. Sponsors for the event will be very welcome, and can be guaranteed to receive excellent promotion for their products.
Tickets cost £60, to include dinner, a speaker, an auction and raffle, while dancing, for those with endless stamina, will continue until 3am! There will be a complimentary bottle of champagne for tables booked before January 1st.
The organisers are hoping for an attendance of 1,100, and further details can be found on Cheltenham's own website, www.cheltenham.co.uk/conferences_events/public_event_list.
Guy, whose first success between the flags was on Noisy Miner at Barbury in 2003, has wasted no time in getting back in the saddle. Just two months after he was first hospitalised he was galvanising his 20-year-old pony into action. "I chucked it a few jumps and it felt fine," was his nonchalant assessment.
"I've lost a lot of fitness," he added, "so I've been riding as much as possible, and I'm also running." He has been riding out for Sarah Stafford, and ten days ago he had his first day's hunting. His mount on that occasion, the ex-Pointer Huntersway, will be his partner in the Royal Wessex Yeomanry Invitation Ride on December 5th.
One event to which he is looking forward is the charity race at Fakenham on Countryside Day, February 19th. The race conditions have changed since last season, and the event is now restricted to retired East Anglian Point-to-Point jockeys. One of Guy's opponents will be the man who trained his horse for the last campaign, Nigel Bloom, and there will be no quarter asked or given!
