uk: Two apprentice Jockeys killed in fire..

TWO apprentice jockeys are believed to have died in a fire that broke out in a block of flats at Buckrose Court inNorton, near Malton, North Yorkshire, in the early hours of Saturday.

The victims have yet to be named but the North Yorkshire Fire service and police were called and are dealing with the incident.

Local trainer John Quinn said: "I was contacted just after 5.30am this morning to be informed of the fire, but nothing has been confirmed as yet."

Sad news

Man arrested over fire that killed two in Malton


A MAN has been arrested in connection with a fire that broke out in a block of flats at Buckrose Court in Norton, near Malton, North Yorkshire, in the early hours of Saturday, which killed two people understood to be apprentice jockeys.

A further two people in their early 20s were taken to York District hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and burns.

The victims have yet to be named, with the next of kin still to be informed, but the North Yorkshire Fire service and police were called and are dealing with the incident.

Steve Tarn, the police officer leading the investigation, said: "At this moment in time the police are treatingthe blaze as suspicious and are asking for help from the community of Norton and Malton.

"They are asking anybody that was in Commercial Street at 2am to please come forward to the police, in particular if you have seen anybody hanging around."

The whole area was still cordoned off at 1pm on Saturday and local trainer John Quinn and his wife Sue were under the impression that the police had still not entered the property.

Quinn added: "I was contacted just after 5.30am this morning to be informed of the fire, but nothing has been confirmed as yet."

Steve Kinsella, landlord of the pub opposite the three-storey appartment block, told Sky News: "I just heard a lady screaming. So I looked through the window and saw a girl just running in the street.

"She was shouting, 'Fire, fire', screaming at the top of her voice. All she had on was a t-shirt.

"I was just about to pick up the phone to dial 999 myself, but as I had the phone in my hand the fire brigade, the police and ambulance all turned up at once."

Howard Keal, local district councillor for Norton and Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Thirsk and Malton, told racingpost.com at 1pm: "I can just about see the road the flats are on from my window and there is intense activity at the scene.

"The police are trying to piece togetherwhat exactly happened, but, I believe the fire started around 2am but I heard nothing from my home and the first I knew was when I went for a run at 7.45am and the street was cordoned off.

"There are fire engines, police cars anda police investigation room has been set up. The flats are down a small walkway and are quite well hidden from the street.

"The fire has been extinguished but there are windows that have been blackened out and there is a strong smell of smoke in the air.

"It's a tragedy to lose two young lives and measures must be taken to ensure similar tragedies can be avoided in the future."

Kevin Darley, chief executive of the Professional Jockeys' Association, said: "To lose two very talented young riders in these circumstances is tragic."

Yorkshire trainer Noel Wilson, who was reacting to the news from Thirsk racecourse, said: "I felt pure shock when I was told this morning, it's such a waste of two young lives and I feel so sorry for both families."

Haydock racecourse announced there would be a 30-second silence before the first race and jockeys are set to wear black armbands during the race meeting.

Clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright said before racing: "We are going to have 30 seconds silence before the first race, the jockeys will gather on the top step and assemble."

Thirsk racecourse also responded to the tragedy by holding a minute's silence before the race meeting and jockeys riding their will also where black armbands along with those at Kempton and Stratford.

THE apprentice jockeys who died in Saturday's fire in North Yorkshire have been named by several Sunday newspapers as Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson.

Kyne,18, was apprenticed to John Quinn. He had ridden 29 winners this season and was third in the apprentice jockeys' championship. He had been due to ride at Haydock on Saturday.

Wilson,19, was based with David Barron. She had been due to ride Imperial Sword, owned by her parents, at Thirsk also on Saturday.


Jamie kyne had a big future and was really catching the eye this season,Jan Wilson had only had 20 odd rides and 3 winners in her short career..RIP

Tributes pour in for jockeys Kyne and Wilson


LEADING trainers and jockeys led the tributes to Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson on Sunday after the two apprentices died in a fire in North Yorkshire in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Trainer David Barron revealed that Wilson loved her job at the Thirsk stable to such an extent that she never mentioned taking time off for a holiday because she hated the prospect of missing involvement in a work morning.

On her Bebo webpage the teenager had written that her aims in life were "to be a successful jockey and do my best at everything I do in life".

Barron said on Sunday: "Jan was already a very good rider when she joined usfrom Paul Murphy's yard at the end of last year, but just recently I'd noticed her transformation to a jockey.

"That was most evident when she won on Imperial Sword at Ayr last month. She had tremendous potential and everything was coming together for her."

Barron added: "I was speaking to Jan's parents last night, and, as they said, she never talked of holidays because she loved her job so much, particularly work mornings.

"She was very enthusiastic and always so willing to learn. Everyone at the stable is totally heartbroken by what has happened, devastated."

Declan Carroll, the trainer responsible for bringing Jamie Kyne to Britain said: "I spotted him when he was riding in the breeze-ups at Kempton. He was in between Richard Hughes and Norman Williamson and, for me, he stuck out. I made some inquiries at the sales, he came and introduced himself, and said he wanted to be a jockey.

"He was a good lad, a natural rider, with a good personality. I think he rode two or three winners on Birkside for me. It is a terrible shame. It is desperate. I know his mother and father, and they will be absolutely gutted. That's who yourthoughts are with at the moment, and obviously the Wilsons as well."

Andrew Mullen, who rode with both Kyne and Wilson, said: "I knew Jamie very well and used to ride with him every day in the north. He was a good kid who was going places. He had his future ahead of him, so for this to have happened is tragic.

"Jamie was a big spirit and you could have a good laugh with him. Jan rode a few winners and was enjoying having a few rides."

Man bailed as fire death investigation continues

A MAN arrested by police investigating the fire which claimed the lives of teenage apprentices Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson was released on conditional police bail atlunchtime on Sunday.

The local man, in his 30s, was questioned by North Yorkshire detectives over the blaze in the early hours of Saturday morning which tore through Malton's former Buckrose Hotel.


The building had been converted to flats, providing homes for, primarily, stable employees and apprentices.

Police said that names of thevictims will not be realised until a post-mortem is carried out on Monday, but local sources confirmed the dead are Jamie Kyne, 18, and Jan Wilson, 19. Their bodies were removed from the property on Sunday morning.

Kyne, who was employed by John Quinn, had ridden 29 winners this season and was third in the apprentice championship.


Wilson, who switched from the amateur to professional ranks last winter, had been with David Barron since December and had partnered three winners on Imperial Sword, owned by her mother Margaret.

In a statement on Sunday afternoon, a spokeswoman for North Yorkshire police said: "Police and the fire service remain at the scene. Crime scene investigators, forensic science services and specialist fire investigation officers are carrying out a full investigation to establish the cause of the fire. We expect the examination to take between one to three days.

"The man who was arrested in connection with the incident has been released on conditional police bail while the investigation continues."

The statement continued: "The people who died were found on the second floor of the property. A post-mortem is expected to be carried out tomorrow morning (Monday). Alongside the forensic examination, a thorough search of the property is being carried out to ensure there are no further casualties. However, we have no reports of anyone else being unaccounted for.

"The structural damage caused by the intensity of the fire has led to delays into investigators being able to enter the property.

"Officers are appealing for anyone in the area between 1am and 2.30am on Saturday to contact police, as they may have important information to assist the investigation."

Floral tributes to the two victims were placed outside Buckrose Court on Sunday afternoon.

Two other racing employees were hurt in the incident. Dean Pratt was treated in hospital for smoke inhalation and burns but was later released, and Ian Brennan, who injured a leg when leaping from a window to escape the flames but was fit enough to ride out for Quinn on Sunday morning

The parents of Kyne and Wilson were travelling to North Yorkshire on Sunday from their homes in Galway and Forfar.

Jamie Kyne funeral

mass address in full


Address given by the Racing Post's Tom O'Ryan

He was the little guy with the baby face, the long legs and the funny walk.

He was the little guy with the sharp sense of humour, a twinkle in his eye, an infectious laugh, and a mile-wide smile.

He was the little guy, who loved the craic, and the messing and the banter.

He was the little guy, who could make friends wherever he went, who could ride horses like a demon, and who could, I swear, fall asleep on a slack washing line!

Jamie Kyne was brilliant at sleeping. He could sleep for England - or for Ireland. There were times, when we went racing together and he'd be talking away like a book - and he could talk a bit! - and then, suddenly, sometimes in mid-sentence, whoosh, he was gone, fast asleep in a matter of seconds. And then, uncannily, when he eventually woke-up, he'd continue talking the same sentence. Amazing.

One day he rang up for a lift to Hamilton. That's grand, I thought, I'm on my own - 200 miles to travel. It'll be nice to have some company. WRONG.

He fell asleep at Coxwold, about 20 minutes after leaving. He woke up two hours later when I stopped for diesel. Ten minutes after filling-up, he dropped off again. When did he wake-up? Just as we pulled into the Hamilton car-park! I think he rode two winners that day.


To be asked to give this address is a huge honour and privilege for me. It's also, the hardest thing I've ever had to do. So, please bear with me throughout this appreciation.

Somebody once said that jockeys are born not made. Whoever that somebody was, he could have been talking directly and personally about Jamie Kyne. He was a young man born to ride.

You didn't have to be a so-called racing expert to spot it.

Anyone, with even half an eye could see it. Jamie was a pure natural in the saddle. Nerves? He never knew what it meant. He was ultra-confident, totally fearless, frighteningly determined. What he possessed was an undiluted passion and enthusiasm for what he was doing, without ever losing sight of the fact that riding horses - especially in races - was exhilarating, exciting and great fun.

Within racing, every single day, he was livinghis dream. That that dream was dramatically, cruelly and tragically cut short is nothing short of devastating, not only for every one of us - his friends - but particularly for his parents and his family, who have every reason to be oh-so-proud of his achievements, and of him as a person.

Our hearts and prayers go out to each and every one of them on this of all days, just as they go out to the parents and family of Jan Wilson.

At least three score years andten is the ball-park figure most of us would hope to be on this earth. Jamie missed out by a colossal 52. It's hard to take in. But it's not how long you're here, it's what you do while you're here that matters most. And Jamie did plenty.

As a schoolboy, growing-up, he excelled at hurling and also at boxing. So good was he, one of Ireland's finest, that some of those closest to him were of the opinion that Jamie could have made a career out of boxing. Racing, though, was his true passion, becoming a jockey was his dream.


The time-span from his first winner - Birkside for Declan Carroll at Wolverhampton on December 6 2007- to his last winner, Duchess Dora, for John Quinn at Beverley on August 30, may only have been 21 months. But he'd come a long way in a short time. He'd ridden 38 winners from 454 rides and rode in races for no fewer than 113 different trainers. 29 of those winners had come this season, which put him in third places in the apprentices' championship. He was going places. Fast.


What he had, as John Quinn has said more than once, was something special, something you can't teach, a God-given gift: the ability to get horses to run for you; horses that often don't really want to run, sometimes don't want to give of their best.

Hit the recall button and lots of you may remember his first double; at Beverley in May, on Classic Contours and Pacific Pride. Both of them won in photo-finishes, just as Grazeon Gold Blend did at Ripon when J. Kyne was at his inspired best to beat Paul Hanagan in a driving finish; a moment he savoured.

There were plenty other memorable occasions; three wins at two meetings in Scotland on the same day. Victories on tricky customers like Mastership and Dig Deep, which took guts and guile, as well as skill and style, and his biggest win of all - Ishetoo, trained by Allan Dickman, owned by John Sissons, and triumphant in a £40,000 sprint handicap at York on the last Saturday in May.

Fittingly, poignantly, and at the request of his family, Jamie is being buried in Ishetoo's colours.

Was Jamie Kyne a popular guy? That's like saying, is the Pope holy? Can a duck swim? Can a horse gallop?

Look around you here today for evidence of his popularity It's standing room only, as many outside as there are inside; there isn't a church in the land big enough for this. And what this should be, remember, through all the tears, is a celebration of his life, howevershort that may have been.

You'd be a rich man if you had a pound for every kind word that's been spoken about Jamie Kyne, both in print and conversation in the last week or so. Trainers, owners, jockeys, even champion jockeys, stable-staff, friends and relations, have all spoken of him as a shining star, a bright light, a remarkable talent and, perhaps most importantly of all, a nice person. I wouldn't have thought he had an enemy in the world.

Maybe, he didn't know it, but he had a lot of fans everywhere, not least in the weighing-room. Six of his colleagues carried him in here last night with another two dozen or so in attendance.

Kieren Fallon and Tony McCoy were among those who sent flowers to Malton last week, Jamie Spencer, Paul Hanagan, Robert Winston and Kevin Darley are among those who have spoken so fondly about him as a person and as a rider.

It would be easy, now, to simply say that he was a future champion. None of us knows that for sure, and sadly we never will. What we do know, though, is that he was so brimful of talent and so brimful of character that the sky was the limit for him in his chosen profession.

I'd like to take you back to Beverley in May. To when he rode Pacific Pride, who beat a horse called Baybshambles, ridden by Kelly Harrison, in a nail-biting finish after making all the running over five furlongs. It was one of the best races he ever rode, and I am indebted to Jack Oxtoby, son of the owner of Pacific Pride, for penning this wonderful poem about that performance as a tribute to Jamie . . .

Out like a bullet, comes Pacific Pride
Leaving the others, nowhere to hide
Showing blistering and electric early pace
Is this grand old son of Compton Place

Sprinting is all he knows, he's got it to a knack
As he surges clear of Angleofattack
He's firing round the bend now, haring up the hill
Those in behind, steady for the kill

Inside the two they go, he's totally pouring it on
You can hear the young Irish whisper, ‘Bring them on'
To the one they go now, but nothing has come yet
As the crowd cheers on, their only single bet

But then out of the pack, Harrison with her wet sail
Forces Baybshambles through the gap and clear onup the rail
Baybshambles to kick on? You would have thought?
But gallant little Jamie Kyne is refusing to be caught

He kicks again, trying to stem the flow
Of the Baybshamble attack, he fails to land a blow
They pass the post together, it's all very unclear
As we all lean forward, waiting just to hear

All nervous, anxious, down to the pitt
Of our stomachs, as Kyne comes in, ‘I've won it'
No one knows, all faces waiting, even Mr Quinn
And then we hear, we have claimed our sacred win

And so if one day, as nightime claims the sun,
You stand upon those Westwood Hills and dream of victories won
Just remember your young man, your fighter, Jamie Kyne
Beating Baybshambles to the ever-closing line

Ladies and gentleman, you don't need me to tell you something you already know - that we've lost a good one. After the Good Lord made Jamie Kyne, he threw away the mould. He was a complete one-off

The little guy is going home to Ireland, to Galway. It's where he belongs.

Malton, though, will never, ever forget him

Thank you

Wonderful words from Tom to Jamie



RIP

Man charged with murder of jockeys Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson

A MAN has been charged with the murder of Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson, the two teenage jockeys who died in a fire in Malton in September.

Peter William Brown, 37, who was arrested on the day of the blaze but released from bail last month before being
re-arrested on Wednesday, is due to appear at Scarborough magistrates' court on Friday morning.

Brown, who is not thought to be involved in racing,is believed to have lived close to Buckrose Court flats in Norton, where Kyne, 18, and Wilson, 19, died in the early hours of Saturday, September 5.

Kyne, who was employed by John Quinn, had been enjoying a good season with 29 winners and was third in the apprentice championship, which was subsequently named in his and Wilson’s honour.

Wilson, who switched from amateur to the professional ranks last winter, had been with David Barron since December and rode three winners on Imperial Sword, owned by her mother Margaret.

A police spokesman said on Thursday: “A 37-year-old man was arrested yesterday, November 25, in connection with the fire at Malton which occurred on Saturday, September 5, which resulted in the deaths of Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson. He currently remains in police custody.”

Earlier this week, Beverley racecourse announced the creation of a new scholarship open to apprentice jockeys based in Yorkshire in memory of the two riders.

The Kyne Wilson Scholarship will provide the winner with a £4,000 boost for the 2010 season and help them raise their profile within the sport.

The Malton Fire Appeal, organised by Racing Welfare, continues to attract donations and has already raised in excess of £100,000.

Attack that killed jockeys was manslaughter

PETER BROWN has been found guilty of killing apprentice jockeys Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson in a revenge attack on their block of flats. The teenagers died as fire swept through the flats, in Norton, near Malton, North Yorkshire, on September 5 last year.

Brown, 37, was convicted on Thursday of two counts of manslaughter but cleared of murder and arson with intent to endanger life. It took 13 hours for the jury of six men and six women to reach a unanimous decision. He awaits sentencing.


Brown, who had denied all charges, calmly sipped a glass of water and showed no emotion as the verdict was read at Leeds Crown Court, prompting friends and relatives of the two victims to say "yes" and burst into tears.

Kyne, 18, from Kiltrogue, County Galway, and Wilson, 19, from Forfar, Angus, died from smoke inhalation and burns. The jockeys were trapped in flat five of Buckrose Court flats, on the top floor of the three-storey block, as fire raged through the building.

As she adjourned the case for the preparation of reports to assess the danger Brown poses to the public, the judge, JusticeNicola Davies, said: "I know that within this court room are the families of Jan and Jamie. I can't tell you when sentencing will be but I'm quite sure that those who have control of the case will keep you informed.

"You have attended every day and my thanks to you for the dignity you have shown."

Speaking after the case, Margaret Wilson, Jan's mother, said: "She was a dream come true for us, and a gift which we were privileged to enjoy for 19 years. Drew [her father] and I miss her more than words could say."

Turning to what Brown did, she added: "Any punishment won't be enough for the loss and suffering of Jamie, Jan and all their family and friends. At least he can't take away our memories."

Madaline Cosgrove-Kyne and Gerry Kyne, the parents of Jamie, said in a statement: "Peter Brown has robbed us all of a fantastic son, brother, grandson and nephew whohad so much to live for.

"September 5 was and always will be the worst day of my life. You never think that your child will be taken away from you. It is like someone has ripped my heart out, stamped all over it and then handed it back to me hardly beating."

Detective Chief Inspector Alan Carey, the senior investigating officer, said: "I am satisfied with the guilty verdict in this extremely tragic case. Peter Brown has shown little or no remorse, let alone an admission of his guilt, throughout the investigation and now thetrial.

"Today Brown has to finally face up to the consequences of his actions. I can only hope that today's verdict will offer a small source of comfort to both Jamie's and Jan's loved ones. But nothing can ever bring them back."

During the four-week trial the jury was told Brown, of Brotherton, North Yorkshire, who lived in an annexe of Buckrose Court at the time, started the fire as an act of revenge after being refused entry to a party in flat four, onthe floor below the flat where the two jockeys died.

Brown, who refused to give evidence at the trial, started the fire by lighting rubbish at the communal entrance to the flats just after 2am on September 5, the court heard.

The fire quickly spread and several residents had to jump for their lives from the burning building. Apprentice jockeys Ian Brennan, who was Jan Wilson's boyfriend, and Dean Pratt both managed to escape from flat five, but Wilson and Kyne weretrapped.