Horseracing fans are being called on by a kind-hearted racegoer to support an online auction featuring memorabilia from some of the biggest names in the sport to help raise funds to buy Christmas presents for a children’s hospital and hospice.
CJ Cooper, 23, from Henfield, West Sussex, will carry out a silent auction early next month to run alongside her toy appeal which is collecting gifts for Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice in Arundel and the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton.
Money from the auction, which will take place on Monday December 5, will be put spent on the remaining gifts left on an Amazon wish list Cooper has created for those wanting to support her annual toy appeal.
Among the lots up for grabs are four tickets provided by The Jockey Club for Festival Trials Day at Cheltenham in January, a print of Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Alpinista signed by her jockey Luke Morris and a set of silks signed by Group One-winning rider Neil Callan.
Cooper said: "It is tough thinking about the children in hospices and at hospital and what they are going through, especially at Christmas when they should be celebrating it at home with their families. There are so many children out there that are not blessed to have good health and Christmas presents.
“By doing something like this it helps the parents that don’t have the time or the money to go and buy the presents as they are looking after their children. This is a way of trying to give them all a bit of joy at Christmas.
“As well as the online racing community I wanted to get more of the wider racing community involved and that is why we are doing the auction. I’ve been in touch with jockeys, trainers, owners, breeders and some have kindly sent gifts over. I’ve had caps, cups, silks, signed prints among the things I’ve received.
"Cheltenham have sent me four tickets for Festival Trials Day. Michael Harris has sent me a print of Baaeed after he beat Palace Pier last year at Ascot and Jim Crowley and William Haggas have signed that.
"I’m set to receive a Stradivarius print which is signed by John Gosden, while Luke Morris has signed an Alpinista print and Neil Callan has also sent me some signed silks. There are also Juddmonte and Godolphin bundles that have been put together.
"All the money from the silent auction will go on buying every present off the wish list or if I’ve received them all I will buy duplicates of each present so the children have lots of presents."
Since setting up her Amazon wish list earlier this month, Chelsea FC fan Cooper, who performed a similar act of kindness last year, has been inundated with gifts from racing fans across the country, for which she is extremely grateful.
She said: “The Amazon wish list has been up for a couple of weeks now and there hasn’t been a day where I’ve not received four boxes or so. It is good that it has started a month early and we are already filling up one of the bedrooms in my house with toys.
"The racing community on line have been absolutely fantastic as ever and once again they have already excelled themselves in getting behind this for those less fortunate.”
Horse racing played an integral role into getting last year’s appeal off the ground with Cooper spending more than £3,000 on gifts for children at three hospices and the Royal Alexandra thanks to two winning bets struck at Cheltenham’s November Meeting.
After putting pictures of the gifts she purchased with her winnings on Twitter, Cooper, who lists Jim Crowley as her favourite jockey, received hundreds of other presents from those wishing to support her charitable effort.
She said: “It all started last year after I won around £3,400 on Lucky 31 and a treble at the November Meeting at Cheltenham. I couldn’t think of anything I wanted and as I had already got my family their presents I decided to spend the winnings on children at the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice after I received a leaflet through the door.
“I put a tweet up thanking the betting firm I won the money off which helped me buy these presents and people started messaging me and said can we contribute presents. I started collecting presents for two more hospices and the children’s hospital in Brighton.
“Crates of presents were turning up at the door and I was surprised how generous people were.
“A former Grand National-winning rider and Grade One winning Jump owner and trainer Gemma Tutty, who was still riding at the time, donated towards it. I was thinking about doing it again this year but then when people started asking me if I was going to do it this year I thought why not as it was popular last year.”
Those interested in bidding for any of the lots can do so by visiting Cooper’s Twitter handle @CJRacingUK, where the link to the auction on GalaBid can be found alongside the link to her Amazon wish list for those wanting to donate a toy directly to the appeal.
Cooper added: “I will put all the pictures of the different lots up on GalaBid which people can access through a link on my own Twitter page. There will then be a cut off time and whoever has the highest bid I will then tweet out the result and who has won.
"The plan at the moment is to just take the presents to Chestnut Tree House in Arundel again and the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton but depending how popular it becomes we might branch out to a couple of other places as well.
“The racing community is a fantastic one and it would be great if we can raise a nice amount from the auction to help buy more presents to go with those I have already received as it will really help bring a smile to faces of children at a special time of year.”
