THURLOE THOROUGHBREDS DONATE £54,102 TO THE ROYAL MARSDEN CANCER CHARITY
Wednesday 24th November: At our annual dinner, we were thrilled to present The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity with a cheque for £54,102 in front of 100 Thurloe members. All six Thurloe trainers were in attendance – Nicky Henderson, Willie Mullins, Richard Hannon, Andrew Balding, Hughie Morrison and Ed Walker as well as Champion Jockey Oisin Murphy. The sum is the amount raised by the Thurloe for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity syndicate from November 1st 2020 to October 31st 2021. This sum adds to the £3,560 from the first year’s donation.
The syndicate which was set up two years ago to raise money for the Royal Marsden’s new state of the art treatment and research centre, The Oak Cancer Centre in Sutton. The support has come though 25% of the owners’ prize and sponsorship money and 20% of the sale proceeds of the horses.
Thirty shareholders came on board including racing industry figures and past Royal Marsden Cancer patients. The syndicate was set up initially with two yearlings and a horse in training and since the establishment, all three horses have been placed or won. The three year old filly Achelois, in training with Andrew Balding, has won three times this year including at the Goodwood Festival. Her racing efforts has seen her earn £47,770 in prize money. She will remain in training next season as a four year old where her target will be to gain some very valuable black type.
The notable contributor to the overall amount has been the Nicky Henderson trained Buzz who has won four races and has been placed three times from nine starts. He ended last national hunt season with a fifth in the richest handicap in the UK, the Betfair Hurdle as well as a second in the Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle. He returned from a six month lay off and two years off the flat to win the prestigious Cesarewitch Handicap worth £250,000. On Saturday at Ascot, six weeks after his Cesarewitch victory, Buzz returned to hurdles in excellent fashion with a thrilling win of the Grade 2 Coral Hurdle. Through the prize money won on Saturday, Buzz has already contributed £7,625 for next year’s donation to the Charity.
The final sum included 20% of the sale of the three year old gelding Remedium who was placed three times for Richard Hannon. Thurloe Thoroughbreds have given an additional donation of £10,000 so a total of over £75,000 has been raised so far!
James Stafford, Manager of Thurloe Thoroughbreds said,
“We set up the syndicate to aim to give something back to a place very close to our hearts. We never imagined in our wildest dream imagined we would be handing over a cheque for this amount.
The horses have exceeded our expectations and it is a thrill that we can give the syndicate so much to enjoy on the racetrack whilst donating funds to such a worthwhile cause.”
Nicky Browne, Director of Transformation at The Royal Marsden said: “On behalf of everyone at The Royal Marsden, I am absolutely thrilled to receive such a generous gift. The Syndicate has raised a huge amount of awareness as well as funds for The Oak Cancer Centre, our new state of the art treatment and research facility in Sutton.
Our public appeal is helping to raise the final millions needed to bring the Centre to life. The Oak Cancer Centre will provide a calm, welcoming space for patients and will bring together world leading researchers under one roof. These first rate facilities for Royal Marsden staff and patients will speed up breakthroughs in cancer treatment and care. Thank you to everyone involved in The Syndicate, Thurloe Thoroughbreds and our amazing Appeal Board for their support which will transform the lives of cancer patients.”
The Oak Cancer Centre (OCC) in Sutton will speed up the translation of world-leading research into breakthroughs in treatment and care, transforming the lives of cancer patients at The Royal Marsden and beyond.
The new, state-of-the-art treatment and research facility is being made possible thanks to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity’s £70 million fundraising appeal which is in its final stages. The Oak Cancer Centre will enhance the clinical research capacity of The Royal Marsden by bringing together 400 researchers currently dispersed across the site. Breakout spaces have been designed to encourage researchers specialising in different cancer types to share ideas and innovation, which will help speed up the development of new treatments.
Diagnosing cancer earlier and faster
As well as accommodating hundreds of researchers across three floors, the building will also be home to the Charles Wolfson Rapid Diagnostic Centre, which will enable the expansion of The Royal Marsden’s early diagnosis service. The Centre will use the very latest technology to provide earlier and faster diagnosis for more people, helping to save lives by finding cancer when treatment is more likely to be successful.
Patient-centred design
A new Day Care Unit will enable patients to enjoy peace and quiet while receiving chemotherapy, and patients visiting the new Outpatient Department will be able to undergo blood tests, see their consultant and collect a prescription all on the same floor.
The OCC will also house a suite of rooms designed for remote consultations, so that patients can avoid unnecessary trips to hospital.