A bumper crowd of 3,000 people turned out to celebrate the life of Keagan Kirkby at Wincanton Racecourse on Sunday, October 27.
The Keagan Kirkby Raceday included a charity memorial race in his name, in addition to a seven-race card, and raised funds for Racing Welfare and the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF)–the two charities which supported Kirkby's friends, family and colleagues after he tragically died in a point-to-point accident in February.
In total, the raceday has raised an estimated £116,000 which will be split equally between Racing Welfare and the IJF, including the £35,800 raised by bloodstock agent and former jockey Tom Malone, who won the charity race in which several of Kirkby's close friends took part.
Alfie Shalliker, who lived with Kirkby and finished third in the charity race, said, “I miss him every day and the world's a sadder place without him. Today is brilliant, he'd love it, it's what he deserves. It was very emotional, but it's a celebration more than sadness because he was a great guy and we'll celebrate that today. It makes you feel proud because I'm riding in his memory. It was flat out the whole way, but I had a very good time and I enjoyed it. He probably would've told me that I'd done everything wrong!”
Racing Welfare's chief executive Dawn Goodfellow added, “The Wincanton racing community were very keen to do something in memory of Keagan. Obviously, the yard at Paul Nicholls's 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 Injured Jockeys Fund] said, it just feels as though the whole of the West Country are here and rooting for the two charities. 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 of the sponsors.”
Anyone wishing to add their support can still do so by texting KEAGAN to 70085 to donate £10.
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