Former Spice Girl Geri and husband Christian Horner, boss of Formula 1 team Red Bull, will break new ground on Friday when they have their first runner under rules.
Lift Me Up, named after Halliwell’s 1991 solo chart-topper, will bid to add another number one to three of his own since he was acquired by the Horners.
He completed a hat-trick of successes in point-to-points, with easy wins at Chaddesley Corbett and Horseheath this season, and now steps up in class to contest the BetVictor Open Hunters’ Chase at Newbury.
Life Me Up, a distant relative of the great Denman, will also be a first runner in the hunter chase sphere for his trainer Maxine Filby, appointed to her role at the Horners’ stables near Banbury, Oxfordshire last year.
“There is nervous excitement,” said Filby. “This is quite a jump in class but this will be an experience over bigger fences because he has qualified for the Intermediate Final at Cheltenham at the track’s hunter chase evening. We will see how he gets on.”
Filby previously trained her own horses when she rode in point-to-points, partnering around ten winners. She then switched sports and became an elite mountain bike rider at which she represented Britain.
The Horners, both keen equestrians, enjoyed their first success as owners when Lift Me Up won at Mollington in May 2022 under Hannah Henn.
“He is named after my song, which went to No 1, and now he has gone to No 1,” said Geri Horner at the time.
Leading amateur James King has been in the saddle for his last two starts and will ride Lift Me Up at Newbury where they are chasing a first prize of £2,361.
