Geri Horner, the former Spice Girl, attended the Cheltenham Festival on Friday to watch her horse Lift Me Up compete in the Hunters' Chase, but the gelding finished 13th as Wonderwall, owned by a different party, won the race at 28-1.
Lift Me Up, named after Horner's 1999 number one single, was her first runner at the festival. Before the race, she expressed excitement, saying, 'I'm very excited. It's amazing.' However, the horse never featured prominently, and jockey Jack Andrews had previously noted the horse's tendency to travel well but not exert itself at the front.
Wonderwall, ridden by Rob James, held off 4-1 favourite Its On The Line to win. James said, 'It's unbelievable. I just got there a bit too soon but it's the one as an amateur you always want to win. This lad was top class.'
Christian Horner, Geri's husband and Red Bull Formula One team principal, was in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix but watched the race in the early hours. His brother Guy said, 'Christian and Geri decided to name the horses after her songs. So it's more interesting than Formula One drivers. He's on the text in Melbourne, yeah. He's watching. He's excited about it.'
Christian Horner has previously described horse racing as 'a bit of escapism away from the madness of F1'. The Horners' involvement in racing comes amid ongoing fallout from allegations of controlling behaviour made against Christian last season, which were cleared but featured in the latest series of Drive to Survive.
