FOR the 12 riders taking on the Corinthian Challenge, it is a challenge of a lifetime this year, with two races under their belts, it is all still to play for as they prepare for their final race in Leopardstown on October 21st.

As part of our ongoing support of Irish Injured Jockeys and their Corinthian Challenge Charity Race Series, this week we caught up with Abigail Reilly to give her the opportunity of a profile piece and to assist with her fundraising efforts.

Abigail is from Ballymoney in Northern Ireland and has been riding from a very young age. She started out show jumping and then moved into a racing yard from 14 years of age, which then progressed to breaking and training youngsters.

Having trained as a plumber, she now rides out at the weekends and keeps her fitness up with running and strength training during the week.

Abigail commented: “Sammy Wilson encouraged me to take part for the craic, but I am taking it quite seriously and really enjoying the challenge. The last two races have been amazing and to ride on the track in Leopardstown is the ultimate dream come true, I can’t wait. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Michael Hourigan, Vincent Ward and the owners for supporting me so far.’’

All eyes will be on our 12 Corinthian Challengers, as their hard work comes to the forefront two weeks from today.

Each race allocates points to the first four home, with 10 points for a winner, seven for a second, five for third position and three for fourth.

So each race has a result and then the overall series will have a Corinthian Challenge Champion based on accumulated points throughout the series, so it’s really exciting.

As we approach the final furlong, the competition remains too close to call. Damien Moore is currently top of our leaderboard on 17 points, followed by Michael O’Neill and Martina Dempsey on 10 points and Katy Brown and Niamh Ashe on five points, closely followed by Aimee Murphy with three points.

The Corinthian Challenge is a charity race series run by Irish Injured Jockeys Fund to raise awareness and much needed funds for the national charity. To stay up to date visit corinthianchallenge.com or follow IIJ and the Corinthian Challenge on social media. To help Abigail Reilly specifically on her fundraising quest simply visit www.corinthianchallenge.com and follow the links to her official Enthuse page.