Keagan Kirkby’s funeral and memorial fundraiser surpasses £14,500 as racing community comes together for support

A JustGiving page was set up on Monday to help towards Kirkby’s funeral and a memorial in his honour. Jockeys including Freddie Gingell, Niall Houlihan, Sam Twiston-Davies and Nick Scholfield are among those who have made donations, which also includes trainers, owners and the racing public.

The page had initially aimed to raise £5,000, but donations had soared to more than £21,000 on Tuesday afternoon. In its description, it says: “As a young boy Keagan could only dream of working for the champion trainer and riding winners.

With hard work and sheer determination he got there and achieved everything he dreamed of and more. He truly was an inspiration to all those who have a dream, he never gave up.

He always had a smile and kind words to say to anyone he met.” Trainer Rob Varnham, who provided him with four of his six point-to-point winners, described him as a “wonderful person inside and out”.

Nicholls posted from his X account on Sunday evening that his yard would “miss him terribly”, while BHA chief executive Julie Harrington said it was “devastated” to learn of his death. The BHA and Point-To-Point Authority also said in a joint statement that the incident at Charing will be fully reviewed.

The PPA has also encouraged those affected by it to reach out to Racing Welfare’s racing support line, or the Injured Jockeys Fund/Sporting Chance helpline.