JOCKEY Paul Kavanagh has tragically died aged 20 after being involved in a car crash on Christmas Eve.
The news sent shockwaves through the racing community after the incident.
The collision happened at around 2am on Wednesday morning near Bruree in County Limerick, Ireland.
Kavanagh, who was a native of Tuam, County Galway, has been riding for trainer Enda Bolger in recent years but has also worked with the likes of Eric McNamara and John McConnell.
Bolger was one of the first to react to the shocking news and hailed him as “polite” and “well-mannered”.
He told the Racing Post: “We’re devastated. He was the most polite, well-mannered and well-brought-up young man we ever had anything to do with.
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“He was a credit to his parents. I can’t imagine what they are going through.”
Kavanagh secured his first jumps winner under Bolger in June on board Gimme A Buzz at Clonmel.
“The smile on his face after riding a winner in those colours was fantastic. He was getting plenty of rides and Mick Winters was a big supporter as well. All he wanted to do was ride in races.
“Paul was very good friends with Rossa Ryan, and it was Rossa’s dad who sent him down to me. He was here for two years.
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“We were helping him all the way. We have a nice horse here called Solitary Man, and he rode him a few times; he was up to that grade. It’s so sad.”
Fellow conditional jockey Aidan Kelly also paid tribute to Kavanagh.
He said: “He was a lovely young lad who was always looking for help. You couldn’t meet a nicer fellow.
“I want to send condolences to his family and to everybody in the weighing room; it’s such a shock to the system.
“He was quiet, you wouldn’t know he was there a lot of the time, but I used to meet him at the Curragh when he was working with Enda, and I’d always ask him about the horse he was riding. It’s such a tragedy.”
Meanwhile, JP McManus racing manager Frank Berry said Kavanagh’s death was “so hard and so desperately sad”.
Riders at Leopardstown in Limerick and Down Royal wore black armbands on Friday to pay their respects.
