The Australian Jockeys’ Association will hold a ceremony before racing at Randwick to remember their colleagues Carly-Mae Pye and Caitlin Forrest who died in falls earlier this week.
Wreaths will be laid at Randwick’s memorial to fallen jockeys before Saturday’s meeting with Australian Racing Christian Chaplaincy’s Brother Dan Stafford and the Reverend Colin Watts presiding.
“The AJA is in mourning following the tragic deaths of Carly-Mae and Caitlin in riding accidents this week,” AJA chief executive Paul Innes said.
Pye died from injuries she received when a horse she was riding in a jump-out at Rockhampton on Monday broke down while Forrest suffered fatal injuries in a race fall at Murray Bridge on Wednesday.
American apprentice Juan Saez also lost his life in a fall in Indiana earlier this week.
Jockeys in Australia, Britain and the United States have paused at race meetings in the past few days to pay tribute to their fellow riders.
“Jockeys share a unique bond wherever in the world they ply their trade, so the death of a colleague is a shock and a tragedy no matter where it happens,” Paul Struthers of Britain’s Professional Jockeys Asssociation said.
“To learn of the death of three talented young jockeys – Carly-Mae Pye and Caitlin Forrest in Australia and Juan Saez in the United States – in such a short space of time is both shocking and heart-breaking beyond words.”
Queensland wagering operator TattsBet will donate the proceeds from all Tote win bets placed on Saturday’s Rockhampton races to a Racing Queensland fund to help Pye’s family and partner Tim Cook.
Pye’s last winner, the Cook-trained Zaha Express, runs in a race named in her honour and will be ridden by Pye’s close friend Tracey O’Hara.
