Horse racing-Former cyclist Pendleton romps to first victory

LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - Double Olympic cycling gold medallist Victoria Pendleton landed her first victory as an amateur jockey on Wednesday, winning the two-and-a-half-mile Switching Saddles Hunter Chase at Wincanton by 29 lengths. The 35-year-old Briton is now set to decide whether to ride in the Foxhunter Chase at the prestigious Cheltenham Festival on March 18. "I will do some more point-to-point (races) and see what the experts around me decide and I will go with their choice," she told reporters after guiding 5/4 favourite Pacha Du Polder to a pillar-to-post win. "But I will definitely be riding for the rest of the season," Pendleton added. "In cycling my performance was so monitored, I knew exactly my power output, the speed I'd try to be maintaining, everything was so specific, calculated and planned. "When you get on a racehorse, everything else goes out the window. I just wanted to get round." Pendleton, who came second in a flat race at Ripon last year, was unseated on her National Hunt debut when she rode Pacha Du Polder at Fakenham 12 days ago. "When I started this challenge people said, 'You know you're going to fall off, don't you?', and I said, 'Yes, I know', but it's a very small price to pay for the joy you get in riding a thoroughbred racehorse," she added. (Writing by Tony Jimenez; Editing by Ed Osmond)