25 January 2023 , 15:43
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A cousin of ex-Chelsea and Barcelona star Marcos Alonso has been handed the chance to take on Frankie Dettori and other top riders on the racetrack.
Spanish jockey Victoria Alonso, 20, has been invited to compete in the International Jockeys Challenge in Saudi Arabia next month during the Saudi Cup meeting.
Alonso, who finished sixth in the Spanish jockey rankings last year, comes from a rich sporting heritage.
Six members of the Alonso family across three generations have played professional football, with three of them representing the Spanish national football team, while they have also played for Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at club level.
Her cousin is ex-Chelsea and current Barcelona defender Marcos Alonso, while her father, Cesar Alonso, played football for Rayo Vallecano before turning to racing, first as an amateur jockey and then as a trainer.
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She said: “I am very proud to be continuing my family’s involvement in top-level sport. Not only are most of them professional footballers but they are all big fans of horse racing and proud of me. I follow their achievements, as they do mine.
“All my family are aware of what I do in horse racing and I have their full support. Both my parents will be there [at The Saudi Cup].”
Marcos Alonso during his time with Chelsea (Getty Images)Alonso, who has ridden 55 winners, said she would be fulfilling “a dream come true” by taking part in the International Jockeys’ Challenge in Riyadh on February 24.
“I really want to savour this great experience riding against the world’s best jockeys and am ready to give it everything that I have.
“The experience is going to be very exciting and totally unique on a professional and personal level, and I hope that it will launch me and give me some great international exposure.”
The International Jockeys Challenge features four handicap races, each run for £320,000, with a further £80,000 prize fund for the challenge itself.
The jockeys are made up of seven international female riders, five international men and two local men with the jockeys receiving 15% of prize money won in each of the four races.