Henry de Bromhead's son, Jack, dies after pony riding accident

The young son of leading jumps trainer Henry de Bromhead has died after a tragic pony riding accident.

Jack de Bromhead died after an incident during the fith race on Rossbeigh Beach on the first day of the Glenbeigh Festival. It happened about 5.20pm.

Emergency services were swiftly on hand but sadly the youngster passed away shortly afterwards. The second day of the Festival, scheduled for Sunday, was cancelled.

Jack had shown great promise in pony races and had ridden a winner at Cahirciveen Races only days earlier.

The schoolboy would ride out regularly for his father, who made history last year when saddling the winners of the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, Gold Cup and Grand National in the same season. Last season, he again landed the Champion Hurdle, via Honeysuckle, and had a one-two in the Gold Cup with A Plus Tard and Minella Indo.

A beautiful young boy Jack De Bromhead pictured here by ⁦@BarryDonal⁩ 7 days ago in Cahersiveen after winning a pony race???????? 6 days later he loses his life on Rossbeigh Beach doing what he loved best????His Dad Henry was in Cahersiveen and gave a beautiful interview RIP Jack pic.twitter.com/fFDGY6gMOD

— Mortimer Murphy (@MortimerMurphy1) September 4, 2022

"Our entire community is shocked," Cllr Michael Cahill told The Kerryman newspaper. "Our sympathies go out to the family. I saw him ride in Cahersiveen only last week. This is awful what’s after happening.

"It’s put a cloud of sadness over our meeting forever. People are here with tears rolling down their faces this evening. This is always a happy, joyous, family festival. Within a short few hours everything has changed. It’s impacting on everyone.”

Jack briefly became a TV celebrity in late April when interviewed by RTE before the stable’s unbeaten mare Honeysuckle extended her winning sequence to 16 at the Punchestown Festival.

“The best mare ever,” Jack, 13 at the time, told viewers. “She can be a bit angry sometimes. If you walk in her stable she can turn her bum to you or try and bite you, unless you give her carrots. She loves carrots.”

De Bromhead has been based at Knockeen, Co. Waterford for many years with the trainer taking it on from his father, Harry, in 2000. The 49-year-old is married to Heather and the couple have two other children, Mia and Georgia. Mia is Jack's twin.

The trainer’s amazing exploits during the 2020-21 season, via top horses such as Honeysuckle, Minella Indo, Put The Kettle On and Minella Times, enabled him to finish third in the British trainers’ championship. The record-breaking Rachael Blackmore is his stable jockey.

Jack’s death at such a young age is the second to leave the racing community devastated in little more than a year.

Last summer, Co Carlow teenager Tiggy Hancock, 15, a rising star in showjumping events, died after a riding accident. Later in the year, racegoers at Cheltenham were encouraged to wear yellow – her favourite colour - at a fixture to help celebrate her life.

Another leading Irish trainer, Gordon Elliott, was scheduled to have an Open Day on Sunday but cancelled the event.