The gelding is named after an Essex-based organisation helping disadvantaged young people – and owner Phil Cunningham donates every penny of his prize-money share.
GB: For most people the victory secured by Little Edi on a cold midweek all-weather card at Kempton Park last month would have meant relatively little, but it was a success that was greeted with open arms by a charity in Essex after it netted them more than £3,000.
The Richard Spencer-trained three-year-old, who is named after Chelmsford-based charity the Little Edi Foundation, secured the funds after landing the Unibet Support Safer Gambling Handicap by length and three-quarters under Oisin Murphy on February 22.
Last year the son of Rajasinghe raised over £10,000 for the charity after picking up prize-money in every one of his eight starts, which included striking gold in a novice contest at Chepstow in August.
And with one success already on board this year his kind-hearted owner Phil Cunningham, who donates every penny the gelding earns from his purse share to the charity, hopes this is the start of another successful campaign.
“He had been working well at home but we were surprised he won so well but Oisin gave him the perfect ride,” said Cunningham.
“The charity have a little annual get-together and last year we gave them a cheque for just under £11,000 so I’m delighted that the horse has been able to win a few thousand pounds more for the kids the charity helps support.
“When you have a small two-year-old like him you think that they might possibly struggle as a three-year-old but it was fantastic to see him hit the back of the net first time out, which was great for the charity and great for Richard and his team.
“We had Hollie Doyle and Hayley Turner ride him last year and they sent messages over after his races and Oisin was magnificent doing that the other day while he also gave the charity a shout on television. It was not just the ride that was professional.”
Ticks all the right boxes
Choosing a charity partner can be a tricky task but Cunningham, who set up his insurance firm Direct Commercial Ltd in 2002, believes in the Little Edi Foundation he has joined forces with an organisation that ticks all the right boxes.
Set up in 2016 by Tess Griggs, the charity aims to help disadvantaged young people through the distribution of aid, including fresh food, school uniforms and the opportunity to attend things like summer schemes that are run in the school holidays.
“We wanted a charity partner that was local and backed kids that needed help and this was ideal,” said Cunningham. “So many charities take a percentage out of every pound but they take absolutely nothing.
“My company has supported Little Edi Foundation for a couple of years and we have helped fund summer camps for them along with providing a van for them to drop off food parcels, while I’ve also helped buy things like school uniforms.
“For a developed nation, and in what is such a wealthy part of it, it is quite shocking some people find themselves faced with such a position.
“We are so delighted to be in a position where we are able to step in and help them. Tess Griggs runs it and she is fantastic, as are all the other people involved.”
Couldn’t see over the stable
Despite Little Edi being only small in stature, Cunningham is only too glad he made the decision to splash out 9,000gns at the 2020 Tattersalls December foals sale to secure his services. “I went to the sales to support the stallion [Rajasinghe] and there was this horse there that couldn’t see over the stable,” he recalled. “I thought the box was empty as he was tiny.
“Nobody wanted him but we decided to roll the dice with him. I was speaking to Richard and joked that we don’t need to put him in the horse box, we could put him in the back of a car.
“We didn’t know how good he was going to be but he really is a little trier and it is as if he knows that he is running for the children. Every time he ran he picked up prize-money for them last year. We call him the little horse with the heart of a lion and hopefully he is not done yet winning prize-money.”
Beyond our wildest dreams
An outing closer to home could be next on the agenda for Little Edi with Cunningham contemplating returning him back to the turf at next month’s bet365 Craven meeting at Newmarket. “We will possibly look at a race at the Craven meeting," he said. “It is on his doorstep and I think he will be better back on the turf.
“If he could get high enough up in the weights to run in one of those big handicaps that would be amazing. The team at the charity all follow him and really he is a little flagbearer for them.”
While Cunningham has hailed the work that the Little Edi Foundation carries out, the praise has been reciprocal to the Classic-winning owner by the charity’s founder Griggs.
“Phil’s help has been amazing,” she said. “We are such a small charity and everything he has done has been beyond our wildest dreams.
“He came to one of our summer schemes and he was just blown away. Phil likes to get involved but he also likes to sit back and let us get on with it.
“I’ve watched every race of Little Edi’s and I’ve really got into it,” added Griggs. “I was a bit scared of horses before but I’ve met him and I’ve been blown away how generous the team have been.
“The horse is amazing – they thought he would be a special horse and he certainly has been for us.”
• For further information about the charity and how to support it visit www.littleedi.co.uk
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