08 Sep Jack de Bromhead 2y4o6o
Jack de Bromhead, a 13-year-old jockey and the son of a prominent horse trainer, died over the weekend after falling from his pony during an event. 5i656b
Jack, son of leading National Hunt trainer Henry and wife Heather, died after he was thrown from his horse, Cork Beo, during a race on Rossbeigh beach during the Glenbeigh Racing Festival at around 5pm on Saturday.
The rest of the weekend’s racing was cancelled after the incident on Saturday.
Henry de Bromhead is one of jump racing’s leading trainers, winning the last two Champion Hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival with Honeysuckle, as well as the 2021 and the 2022 Gold Cup with Minella Indo and A Plus Tard.
He and Irish jockey Rachael Blackmore also combined for a famous victory last year as Minella Times won the Grand National at Aintree.
On Sunday afternoon, there was an official notice posted online, followed by a heartfelt note from his grieving family.
It read: “On September 3 we said goodbye to our extraordinary, beautiful 13-year-old son, Jack.
“A one-of-a-kind child who touched all our lives in the best way possible – he will be forever present in our lives. Always cherished, always loved, frozen in time with a beautiful young soul. He was an amazing son who told us he loved us every day – an over-brimming heart of loyalty, empathy, patience, pluck, courage and how he made us laugh.
“Not only the perfect, funny, loving son but also an incredible, loving brother to our beautiful daughters, his twin sister Mia and his little sister, Georgia. He always had their back and was fiercely loyal and kind. Our hearts are truly broken.
“He made so many friends wherever he went and they felt his special, unique and loyal touch on their lives too. We ask that they please celebrate and love him as we know he would have wished.
“Jack has lived so many more years than the 13 – he filled every moment of his days, always busy, forever curious grasping at life and new interests.
“The ion he had for his family and friends extended to all his hobbies and interests – too many to fit into 13 years and certainly too busy to spend more than a minute more than he had to in the classroom.
“It started with his work on the farm, the tractor, the cattle, the ponies and horses. He was a ionate expert on them all by the time he was 10. By 11 he was offering expert advice and consultation to his father on training horses as he developed his fathers ion for all aspects of racing.”
The racing community has been paying tributes to the teenager.
Trainer Jonjo O’Neill said on Twitter: “Absolutely tragic news about Jack de Bromhead. My heart breaks for his family.
“There are simply no words. Sending all our thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.”
Kerry county councillor Michael Cahill, whose family attended the Glenbeigh Racing Festival, said it was a “horrific tragedy” and the area’s community was in a “state of shock”.
“The festival has been going for 100 years and this is the first time this has happened,” he said.
“I want to extend my deepest sympathies to his parents and siblings.”
Suzanne Eade, the chief executive of the governing body Horse Racing Ireland, described the teenager’s death as a “tragic loss”.
“Jack may have been only 13 but he was already incredibly popular in the racing community,” she said.
“His family and friends, his pony racing colleagues and all those whose lives he touched are in our thoughts today during this numbing, devastating tragedy.”
Ms Eade said counselling would be offered to Jack’s pony racing colleagues and friends.