Wincanton meeting raises big money in memory of Keagan Kirkby

Kirkby, 25, who worked for Paul Nicholls in nearby Ditcheat, tragically died in a fall at Charing point-to-point in February.

His death had a profound impact on the racing community, both in the area and further afield, and the seven-race card at Wincanton on Sunday was hosted to celebrate his life and raise money for both Racing Welfare and the Injured Jockeys Fund.

There was a charity race named in his honour which was contested by many of his friends and eventually won by bloodstock agent and former jockey Tom Malone aboard Joe Tizzard’s Alexei.

Malone alone raised £35,000 for the cause and in second and third place were two of Kirkby closest friends, Joe Wroe and Alfie Shalliker.

The latter, who lived with Kirkby, said: “I miss him every day and the world’s a sadder place without him. It was very emotional, but it’s a celebration more than sadness because he was a great guy and we’ll celebrate that.

“It makes you feel good you know, proud because I’m riding in his memory. It was flat out the whole way I’d say but I had a very good time and I enjoyed it. He probably would’ve told me that I’d done everything wrong!”

Nicholls added: “It’s hard to put into words the hole that Keagan left in all our lives really, to his family, to the whole team at Ditcheat, the tragedy that day – I was at Musselburgh when I got the call and it just knocked everybody for six – you just can’t imagine it happening to anybody but he was doing what he loved.

“The team, I mean all the young kids, it really affected them, Alfie was his best mate and was particularly badly hit. Racing Welfare, particularly Lucinda Gould who works for Racing Welfare, who used to work for us and used to look after Denman, played a massive part in looking after all those people.

“Racing Welfare does an awful lot for a lot of people. You need that, they pulled everybody through – a massive help and they’re a great help to everybody in the industry, not just stud and stable staff – anybody in racing, and the Injured Jockeys Fund as we all know do a fantastic job and the more money we can raise for them the better really.”

In total, the raceday raised an estimated £116,000 which will be split equally between the two charities, with Racing Welfare’s chief executive Dawn Goodfelow saying: “The Wincanton racing community were very keen to do something in memory of Keagan. Obviously, the yard at Paul Nicholls’ and Keagan’s family have had a lot of support both from Racing Welfare and the Injured Jockeys Fund and all of the community down here appreciated that and wanted to do something in his memory to give something back.

“As Lisa Hancock (CEO at the Injured Jockeys Fund) said, it just feels as though the whole of the west country are here and rooting for the two charities.

“Events like this raise much needed funds so we can be there for all of racing’s people, 365 days of the year, for mental and physical health, financial support, housing, and provide critical incident support at times of crisis as we did for Keagan’s friends and colleagues. It has been a fantastic day and we want to extend our grateful thanks to Wincanton racecourse, the committee who have done such a wonderful job, the charity riders and of course all the sponsors.”