Rob Burrow: Former Leeds Rhinos star and wife become patrons of horse-racing syndicate

The Good Racing Company was formed in October 2020 by entrepreneur and racing enthusiast Phil Hawthorne as way to fundraise for Burrow after the former Leeds Rhinos star announced he was living with MND.

To date it has raised more than £185,554 for the player and MND charities through selling memberships to the Rob Burrow Racing Club.

At an event for Good Racing Company members at Craig Lidster’s racing yard in Easingwold yesterday, Burrow and his wife, accompanied by their children, were presented with two cheques each for £7,777 in tribute to the number seven shirt Burrow wore for Leeds Rhinos.

Burrow said they had had a lot of support from the horse-racing community and since being involved they had developed quite a fancy for a flutter.

He said: “We’re really excited to be involved in the shaping of The Good Racing Company’s future. The past few years have shown that there’s a lot of support in racing for charity both from the horseracing community itself and from new people discovering the sport for the first time – just like Lindsey and I.

“The potential to get behind so many different causes is really exciting and we can’t wait to get stuck in.”

Burrow’s grandfather used to love placing a bet on the horses, and it seems he has inherited the thrill for the sport as he added: “Nothing beats the thrill of the final furlong.”

The Good Racing Company now has nine racehorses in its stable, and in the coming months each will be assigned a charity cause that they will raise money and awareness for. The Burrows will be heavily involved in the process of considering causes and specific charities.