Retired champion jumps jockey John Francome stands by his belief Victoria Pendleton is an accident waiting to happen on a racecourse.
Francome told the Guardian last month the dual Olympic champion cyclist “can’t ride” and wants “saving from herself” after she was unseated from Pacha Du Polder on her first start over regulation fences at Fakenham.
Pendleton, 35, went some way to silencing the naysayers at Wincanton on Wednesday when she made all of the running aboard the same horse to claim a first victory as a jockey.
Her maiden success sharply brought back into focus the possibility of riding the Paul Nicholls-trained Pacha Du Polder in the St James’s Place Foxhunter Chase at the Cheltenham Festival on March 18.
But when asked if he felt Pendleton was still an accident waiting to happen in the saddle, Francome told Press Association Sport: “Absolutely, yes.”
“Every time she gets round in one piece, I’m absolutely delighted, but I’ll leave it the people who are advising her.
“She won, and I’ve done nothing but wish her well.”
