Honours in memory of a young Angus jockey have been presented to two of the brightest prospects in horse racing.
Thomas Greenwood and Tom Hamilton have secured the Jan Wilson Memorial Awards for 2010 as the leading northern and Scottish riders respectively in a pony-racing season which reached its competitive climax at the weekend at Cheltenham.
The awards were presented by Drew and Margaret Wilson, of Greenhead Farm, near Forfar, the parents of 19-year-old Jan who tragically lost her life in a North Yorkshire flats blaze in September 2009.
They made the emotional trip to the famous racecourse, where jump legend A. P. McCoy made a special contribution to the poignant day.
The awards are sponsored by the Jockey Jan Memorial Fund, which has raised more than £25,000 since being set up by the Wilsons in the wake of the fire which claimed the lives of the triple-winning Angus star and Irish apprentice Jamie Kyne.
It subsequently led to the double manslaughter conviction of Peter Brown, who awaits sentence for the killings after a jury found him guilty of deliberately starting the blaze.
Hawick High School youngster Tom Hamilton’s prize package includes a pony racing saddle in Jan’s favourite red and black colours and a training day at the British racing School at Newmarket, where she gained early racing qualifications, and the facility to which the Wilsons donated Jan’s horse, Imperial Sword, following her death.
Mrs Wilson said the couple and the young jockeys had been honoured by Tony McCoy’s contribution to the award presentation.
“I had asked the boys who their favourite jump jockey was they said A. P. McCoy and Graham Lee,” said Margaret. “Jan had worked at the same yard as Graham and had met A. P. so I asked A. P. if he would have time to have a photograph with us as it was a day for us to remember Jan and hopefully the start of dreams coming true for these two boys.
“It was nice for Drew and me to listen to A. P. recall the time he met Jan and I recounted the telephone conversation with Jan and her excitement on meeting him. A. P. and his wife wrote to us when we lost Jan and I thought that was a gesture of a nice, caring man.”