Former Love Island contestant finishes fifth in jockey debut

Former Love Island contestant Chris Hughes has finished fifth in his first horse race as a jockey.

Hughes, 25, was riding Carnageo, trained by Richard Fahey, in the 1740 Ride of their Lives charity race at York Racecourse.

The reality TV star, who finished third in the ITV2 series in 2017 with former partner Olivia Attwood, was taking part to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The race of 12 riders ended in a dead heat for first place between X-Rated, ridden by Sarah Fanning, and Apterix, ridden by Chris Brownless.

Speaking after the race Hughes said: “It was an amazing experience and the support from the crowd was unbelievable.

“I’m disappointed not to win but I’ve loved every minute of the training leading up to today, and just want to have another go now.

“My fellow jockeys have all been incredibly supportive and we’d like to thank everyone who has raised money for Macmillan Cancer.”

The uniform Hughes competed in consisted of a red jersey, white trousers and a red and white chequered hat.

Earlier on Saturday he had been posing for photographs with punters at a “selfie station” to help raise funds for the charity.

Hughes, who grew up riding horses with friends in his home town of Cheltenham, had undergone five months of intense training and received tutelage from former Gold Cup winning jockey Jonjo O’Neill.

Ahead of starter’s orders Hughes retweeted a message of support from his former Love Island co-star Kem Cetinay.

Cetinay wrote: “Good luck to my boy Chris Hughes.  You got this brother!”