THE winner of a bottle of champagne in a competition to name a horse has given it back to the organisers to auction for their charity.

The horse, a black hunter with white blaze and white socks, was bred and owned by Peter Holland of Braydon, near Minety, who died a year ago from a rare form of bone marrow cancer. Only around three new cases are diagnosed each year in Swindon.

During his four-year fight against the disease Peter and his wife Jeannette, with the help of friends, raised more than £122,000 for research and better treatment facilities for other sufferers.

"He called the horse Chemo because he was in the middle of gruelling chemotherapy treatment at Hammersmith Hospital when the foal was born," said Jeannette.

"But the time has come to give him a proper name and I decided it would be a good idea to hold a competition to find one, with proceeds going to the myeloma fund."

The horse is the son of Leoni, one of two thoroughbred shires which were stabled next to Pete and Jeannette's home at Minety where he and his brother John set up the successful recycling business Holland Handling.

The winning name, chosen by Paul Adams, is Minety Star.

"The fundraising will go on," said 50-year-old Jeannette. "That's what Pete would have wanted."