Funeral of jockey Keagan Kirkby to take place next month after fund in his honour raises more than £55,000
THE funeral of jockey Keagan Kirkby will take place next month.
Hugely popular point-to-point rider Kirkby – who worked at 14-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls’ yard – died aged 25 after falling from his horse during a race at Charing in Kent earlier this month.
An inquest heard the horse he was riding turned from a jump and then bolted before throwing Kirkby off and landing on top of him.
The stricken jockey received immediate first aid but not could be saved.
A subsequent planned meeting at the track was cancelled while the investigation into the death continued.
A statement from the Injured Jockeys Fund posted on Wednesday confirmed the details of Kirkby’s funeral.
The statement read: “The funeral of point-to-point jockey Keagan Kirkby will be held on Tuesday, March 5 in Ditcheat Church, Somerset at 12.15pm.
“Keagan’s family request that people wear blue and white (Bristol Rovers-related) or their favourite horse racing colours. And no flowers please.
“Keagan’s mother, Zoe, and his family would like to thank everyone for all the love, support and kind messages that they have received during the last few difficult weeks.”
Nicholls described his sense of loss after learning of Kirkby’s tragic passing.
The trainer said he was initially ‘mortified’ at Kirkby’s death before going onto praise him for being a fine young man.
Nicholls told Sun Racing: “He was passionate about his horses and his jobs. He was passionate about everything really. He was a lovely lad.
“He was one of life’s genuine people and you wouldn’t meet a nicer man.
“I know everyone always says those sorts of things afterwards, but he was such a nice lad that he would do anything for you.
“He worked hard and he had a very kind heart.
“It is sad, and accidents happen, but he was so enthusiastic about riding in point-to-point races.
“It is incredibly sad for his family and the whole team here.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with in my career.”
A Just Giving page set up in Kirkby’s honour has raised more than £55,000.
One of the biggest donations came from Michael Geoghegan, the owner of Fire Flyer.
Kirkby rode the six-year-old gelding out every day and Geoghegan donated every penny of his near £4,000 winnings after the horse triumphed at Taunton to the fund.
While Sir Alex Ferguson’s good friend and top racehorse owner Ged Mason also contributed £2,000.