Love Island star Chris Hughes made his debut as a jockey at York on Saturday afternoon as he took part in a charity race on the Knavesmire, but it wasn't to be a winning debut for the popular reality star as he could only finish fifth on board his mount Carnageo.
Hughes, who was riding in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, donned red and white colours on the Richard Fahey-trained runner, and he appeared to have a chance as they went into the final couple of furlongs, but his five-year-old gelding was unable to quicken in the closing stages, and it left X-Rated (Sarah Fanning) and Apterix (Chris Brownless) to fight out the finish, and it was adjudged to be a dead-heat with both jockeys sharing the victory.
However, it was not about how the race unfolded on the track, but the tremendous feat of all the amateur jockeys to put their bodies on the line in aid of charity, and gain some tremendous funding for Macmillan in what was a superb finish to a quality Flat racing card at York.
Hughes was a huge coup for the race, with his social media status sure to have given the race some significant support from millions of Love Island fans, and whether you are a fan of the ITV2 series or not, the bravery of Hughes and his fellow jockeys just made out for a terrific charity race on Saturday afternoon.
Watch the closing stages of the York charity race here:
