​A jockey sponsorship scheme at Beverley Racecourse hopes to ease the pain of the tragedy of two young deaths, as  Andy Mortimer discovers . . .

Beverley Racecourse manager Sally Iggulden with Paul Pickard

When two promising teenage jockeys died in a fire in Norton, near Malton, last autumn, Yorkshire’s racing fraternity was left in a state of despair. The riders, Jamie Kyne (18) and Jan Wilson (19), were both reaching the top of their game and to lose them in such a way sent shockwaves through what is a very close-knit sporting community.

And this was perhaps just as evident at Beverley Racecourse. It was here that Jamie had enjoyed five wins in 2008 alone and racecourse manager Sally Iggulden  remembers just how difficult it was for those at the racing centre to cope.

She said: “I visited Malton a day or two after the deaths of Jamie and Jan and it was eerie – it was just so quiet.

“Everyone at Beverley Racecourse knew the jockeys really well. Jamie raced here at most of our meetings and I can actually remember the day he first started.

“He looked so young and baby-faced and most people didn’t believe he was old enough to be a jockey. He was cheeky with it, too, and just great to have around.”

Considering the deep impact the deaths had on Beverley in particular, Sally started to make plans for a memorial event to honour both Jamie and Jan.

The idea of a race in their memory was dismissed – “it seemed more of an ‘older’ person’s memorial,” says Sally – and, instead, plans were put in place for a scholarship scheme from which young, Yorkshire-based jockeys could benefit.

Named the Kyne-Wilson Scholarship, it would aid a young, apprentice jockey through one year of their career, fully supported by Beverley Racecourse.

Sally, who is originally from Kent and moved to Beverley in 2000 after a successful spell at Ascot Racecourse, said: “I came up with the idea and I think it’s a fitting memorial to Jamie and Jan.

“The idea is to support a young jockey early in their career and to try to give them the best of everything.

“It’s designed to go to someone who we feel has the right potential and attitude to get to the top. If they were alive, Jamie and Jan would have both been contenders for the award and, after speaking to their parents, we think they would really support what we are doing.”

The sponsorship scheme is designed to inject up to £4,000 into the coffers of the chosen apprentice jockey.

They are sponsored by the racecourse and all their equipment is paid for through the scheme. All items will have Jamie and Jan’s initials sewn in as a fitting reminder of why the sponsorship is being handed out.

The apprentice is also given access to a personal trainer who will help them with diet and exercise and, in the case of this year’s recipient, money will be awarded to help pay for added extras such as driving lessons.

This year’s scholarship has been awarded to North Yorkshire-based jockey Paul Pickard (23).

“I’m looking forward to a great season in 2010 thanks to this scholarship,” said Paul, who lives in West Lutton, about 12 miles from Malton.

“I think I did well last year, but this will help me kick on and I do have ambitions to be champion apprentice jockey soon – it’s something that, if Jamie had lived, he would have achieved without any doubt.”

Paul and Jamie had been friends for about three years before the latter’s untimely death. In fact Paul can remember play-fighting with Jamie on the weighing mill at a local meeting just hours before the fire started. It’s something he looks back on with some regret and sadness.

He said: “Jamie was such a nice chap and everybody loved him.

“He was a great friend and we had worked together for a while in the yards before he died. I got a text after the fire telling me what had happened and it was such an awful feeling.

“I remember going to the memorial and there were so many people there – even I didn’t realise how many friends he had in the area – and I really think this sponsorship is something he and Jan would support.”

Sally added: “Jockeys who compete at the top level are able to earn a lot of money but it’s difficult to get there. The idea of the Kyne-Wilson Scholarship is to help them make that final push.

“Paul has great potential and the right attitude to succeed. He doesn’t drink and he has the kind of commitment we were looking for.

“In fact, when we were canvassing opinions for the scholarship, his was the name that kept being recommended.

“He was also great friends with Jamie and when he won the award he said to me: ‘I will do anything for those two – I want to make them proud’.

“I think that tells us everything we need to know about our apprentice this year.”