Dawn Goodfellow

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...

Nick Bannister will become the next chairman of Racing Welfare on June 12, the organisation announced on Wednesday. Currently chairman of Haydock Park Racecourse since 2020, Bannister will succeed William Barlow, who will be completing his five-year term. Bannister, who first worked for three decades in financial services, also manages the family-owned Coniston Hotel & Spa and its associated estate in the Yorkshire Dales. He has served as chair of The Countryside Alliance Foundation for six years and spent over 10 years as the deputy governor of the Hunt Staff...

Racing Welfare's annual Three Peaks Challenge, held on Saturday, July 8, raised more than £50,000 for racing's people, the charity organization announced on Tuesday. Sponsored by Tote and Tattersalls, nearly 100 people participated in the challenge in wet weather conditions to scale the three peaks of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-Ghent in under 12 hours. Despite most of the group not completing the final two peaks on safety advice, the walkers still completed nearly 20 miles in challenging terrain and more than 3,000 feet of ascent. "Despite the initial disappointment of...

Racing Welfare and the Racehorse Owners Association will provide a pair of black-tie awards events-The Northern Racing Awards and Epsom Owners' and Trainers Awards-celebrating the industry. The ROA Northern Racing Awards take place Nov. 25 at Newcastle racecourse. There will be 12 awards celebrating flat and National Hunt racing, as well as a live and silent auction and live music from popular band, The Monotones. Tickets are £95 per person with subsidised stable staff tickets available at £45 per person. For more information or to book, click here. The ROA...

The four regional winners for the Lifetime in Racing Awards were announced by on Friday. Open to those who have devoted more than 30 years of their working lives to the British horseracing or Thoroughbred breeding industries, they are organised by Racing Welfare. The winners are as follows: North--Brian Paul, long-time OB unit manager at RaceTech, and York racecourse booking supervisor Karen Dunbar highly commended. South--Geoff Rigby, former apprentice and now groom/ stable staff at Park House Stables. East--Cliff Lines, now retired but formerly head person, racing groom and trainer,...

Notable racing charity Racing Welfare received a financial boost during the past week as cyclists and runners earned in excess of £100,000 through donations for The Great Racing Welfare Cycle Challenge and in part from participants in the Vitality Big Half Marathon. The GRWCC, a 500-mile journey by bike from Carlisle Racecourse to Newton Abbot Racecourse, was completed by 26 cyclists over five days, while four runners in London completed the Vitality Big Half Marathon. The team of cyclists hailed from all corners of the racing industry, and included trainers,...

Racing Welfare in conjunction with Great British Racing (GBR), the Tote and Sky Sports Racing, have launched the 2021 edition of the pop idol competition, Furlong Factor. Introduced last season, the competition is free to enter and first prize is £1,500 in cash and a trophy from Inkerman London. All funds raised from the Furlong Factor will go toward Racing Welfare's Lost Events Appeal. Entries close Apr. 21. To enter, contestants are asked to record themselves singing into their phone and email their videos to communications@racingwelfare.co.uk or send in by...

Racing Welfare's Emergency Appeal, which was launched when the COVID-19 pandemic hit to make up for the income deficit the charity faced due to the cancellation of its fundraising events, has hit its £500,000 target. Racing Welfare Chief Executive Dawn Goodfellow said, "I can honestly say that we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the racing community. The news that we have hit our target is a great boost as we head towards the end of 2020 and is a wonderful reflection of the unwavering support we have received...