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Shaun Keightley
Shaun Keightley
1960 - 2022
1960 - 2022
Dual purpose jockey Shaun Leonard Keightley was born on 29 March 1960. He became apprenticed to Willie Stephenson at Royston and rode his first winner on Kost Of Living in the Apprentice Maiden Stakes on what proved to be the last ever day’s racing at Lanark, Tuesday, 18 October 1977.
Dual purpose jockey Shaun Leonard Keightley was born on 29 March 1960. He became apprenticed to Willie Stephenson at Royston and rode his first winner on Kost Of Living in the Apprentice Maiden Stakes on what proved to be the last ever day’s racing at Lanark, Tuesday, 18 October 1977.
Reflecting on that win, Shaun recalled: “Kost Of Living was a right character. I looked after him at home and he was more of a pet than a racehorse. If I’d ever got off him and tried to run away, he’d have followed me. I’d led him up at Catterick four days earlier when Denis Ryan had ridden him in a seller. I was apprehensive, thinking ahead to Lanark, as I didn’t want him to win at Catterick or he couldn’t have run in the maiden. As it was it worked out quite well; he finished second, beaten a length.”
Reflecting on that win, Shaun recalled: “Kost Of Living was a right character. I looked after him at home and he was more of a pet than a racehorse. If I’d ever got off him and tried to run away, he’d have followed me. I’d led him up at Catterick four days earlier when Denis Ryan had ridden him in a seller. I was apprehensive, thinking ahead to Lanark, as I didn’t want him to win at Catterick or he couldn’t have run in the maiden. As it was it worked out quite well; he finished second, beaten a length.”
Shaun recorded his two biggest successes in 1989, winning the Coral Golden Hurdle Final at Cheltenham on Rogers Princess in March before landing the Listed John Of Gaunt Stakes with Weldnaas at Haydock three months later. His other major victory was on Phil The Fluter in the 1983 Rowland Meyrick Chase at Wetherby.
Shaun recorded his two biggest successes in 1989, winning the Coral Golden Hurdle Final at Cheltenham on Rogers Princess in March before landing the Listed John Of Gaunt Stakes with Weldnaas at Haydock three months later. His other major victory was on Phil The Fluter in the 1983 Rowland Meyrick Chase at Wetherby.
He went on to ride a winner on every British racecourse, amassing over 200 winners in all on the Flat and over jumps during a 20-year riding career that ended in 1996.
He went on to ride a winner on every British racecourse, amassing over 200 winners in all on the Flat and over jumps during a 20-year riding career that ended in 1996.
Sean had two spells as a trainer, sending out nearly 50 winners from a yard in Exning, near Newmarket in the second stint which ran from 2018 to 2021.
Sean had two spells as a trainer, sending out nearly 50 winners from a yard in Exning, near Newmarket in the second stint which ran from 2018 to 2021.
He had left the training ranks under a cloud in 2005 when he was warned off for three years, fined £3,500 and banned from applying for a licence for a further two years over the running and riding of Red Lancer in a seller at Wolverhampton on 20 October 2003. But he stayed within racing, working for Matthew Salaman, Pat Murphy and Peter Makin before becoming assistant to Peter Hedger.
He had left the training ranks under a cloud in 2005 when he was warned off for three years, fined £3,500 and banned from applying for a licence for a further two years over the running and riding of Red Lancer in a seller at Wolverhampton on 20 October 2003. But he stayed within racing, working for Matthew Salaman, Pat Murphy and Peter Makin before becoming assistant to Peter Hedger.
Having resumed training, he saddled his last winner when Fox Leicester landed a class 6 handicap at Chelmsford City on 12 September 2021. His last runner, also at Chelmsford, was San Juan, who finished seventh of 13 in a class 6 handicap on 9 December 2021. His last runner would have been Silver Nemo on 15 December, but the horse burst out of the front of the stalls, leading to his automatic withdrawal.
Having resumed training, he saddled his last winner when Fox Leicester landed a class 6 handicap at Chelmsford City on 12 September 2021. His last runner, also at Chelmsford, was San Juan, who finished seventh of 13 in a class 6 handicap on 9 December 2021. His last runner would have been Silver Nemo on 15 December, but the horse burst out of the front of the stalls, leading to his automatic withdrawal.
Shaun Keightley died of cancer on 23 December 2022, aged 62.
Shaun Keightley died of cancer on 23 December 2022, aged 62.
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