Molly Ollys Wishes goes for £100,000 winning post at Fontwell Park

Warwickshire-based Dean and Elaine Pugh bred Molly Ollys Wishes themselves and named her after a local charity that supports the emotional wellbeing of children with life threatening illnesses and their families.

Via Dean’s company West Mercia Fork Trucks, the Pughs have been vital benefactors of the charity Molly Olly’s Wishes since it was founded in 2011 by their friends Rachel and Tim Ollerenshaw. The Ollerenshaws’ daughter Molly was diagnosed with a Wilms tumour aged three and, despite a long and brave fight, died five years later.

Since 22 October 2020, Molly Ollys Wishes – the racehorse – has won over £65,000 in prize money. The total has been boosted heavily by a bonus prize money scheme called the Great British Bonus, which offers connections of racehorses bred in Britain the chance to take home multiple bonuses of up to £20,000 per win, making racehorse ownership a more financially viable proposition. Molly Ollys Wishes has so far won two bonuses totalling £40,000.

The valuable mare, who is trained by Dan Skelton near Alcester, is due to run again this Sunday in the Grade 2 Loch Lomond Whiskies National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell.

If she were to win for the fourth consecutive time, Molly Ollys Wishes would earn a further £28,475 in race prize money, plus a £10,000 Great British Bonus. This would take her prize haul since October to over £100,000, enabling the Pughs to further support their chosen charity.

Dean Pugh told Great British Racing International: “The mare was named after the charity originally with a view to giving awareness to the charity’s name, which we feel is certainly happening with the levels that she is reaching. What we didn't realise was that we'd have a potential little superstar on our hands.

“We have a ball every year, which we couldn’t last November for the first time because of Covid, and it normally makes about £80,000, every penny of which goes into the pot for the terminally ill children. I’ve also run the Molly Olly Golf Day for the last 9 years and we tend to make about £25,000 from that day.

“As a company we support the charity financially. We give every month anyway, but this year, Molly Ollys Wishes has had such a great year that we'll see what she's won come April and do a one-off donation to the charity based on her winnings. Obviously, the Great British Bonus scheme has been fantastic for us in terms of bonus prize money.”