The 4th HoGS Pantomime Horse Race took place on Sunday 2 August 2026 at Chester Racecourse's Family Fun Day, amid glorious sunshine.

Of course, that made it very hot to be ChestaZebra and our companion Pantomime Animals!

But ChestaZebra wowed the crowd by being sassy at the start - eating grass on the racecourse and even rearing up at the starter's whistle!

Our little legs are too short to hope of being first past the post, but we were delighted to win the Best Fundraiser Prize - raising over £1,000 for our fantastic Hospice of the Good Shepherd.

And it's all thanks to you, our wonderful supporters! Thank you everyone for being so generous.

We tried to work hard for your money ... on Saturday 1 August, ChestaZebra pranced and gambolled in Grosvenor Park to encourage Cestrians and visitors to support our fundraising campaign - have a look at the pictures - it was lots of fun!

And we posted flyers through the doors on our local streets, and at our local library and shops.

Thank you so much for helping us raise over £1,000 for this wonderful charity, which depends so much on community fundraising. Running costs are over £5.5 million a year (that's over £7,000 a DAY) and government funding is only 17% of total costs. Recently judged OUTSTANDING, it provides exceptional end-of-life care

The Hospice is an independent charity and not part of the NHS, so they rely on the community to plug the over £4.5 million gap between government funding and total annual costs. A significant part of this is through fundraising events like the Pantomimum Horse Race.

Thank you for helping us, to help them, to help us all!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.