A CHARITY race day held for an injured servicemen charity at Chepstow Racecourse raised more than £16,000 on Saturday.

Jennie Humphreys, who organised the event for the second consecutive year, said an auction held raised £7,000 alone for the Care for Casualties charity, which is associated with the Rifles’ battalions.

The Rifles have a base at Beachley Barracks, near Chepstow.

Mrs Humphreys, who lives in Somerset, used to work as a steward at the racecourse and her husband, Nigel, is a former Rifleman.

She said the number of casualties suffered by the Rifles in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq meant she felt she had to do something to help.

She said: “There have been 62 Rifleman killed and more than 600 wounded. It was time we raised them some money.”

Care for Casualties provides support to wounded Riflemen, their families and other families of people killed on operations.

Lieutenant General Sir Nick Carter, Commander Land Forces, attended the event. He said it was “tremendous” and said the battalion was “very happy in Chepstow. It has raised a lot of money.”

In a speech later, he thanked the battalion, which he said has “shouldered a huge burden in the last few years.”

Rifleman Aaron McBrinn, who is based at Beachley Barracks, said he was confident lots of money had been raised for the charity and that he and three colleagues had collected enough donations to fill two buckets that morning alone.

Fellow Rifleman Alex Mico said: “It’s definitely been a good day’s fundraising.”

Seven races were run on the day.

The main event of the day, the Rifles Handicap Steeple Chase, was won by Poole Master.