Jessica Whalley, the 25-year-old who collapsed and died at the racing yard owned by former Liverpool and England footballer Michael Owen, had been riding a filly she “absolutely adored” when tragedy struck on Tuesday.
Her boss Hugo Palmer said she had just completed her latest exercise on the three-year-old horse when she came out of the saddle and fell to the ground at Owen’s Manor House Stables in Malpas, Cheshire.
Emergency services were called to the yard at 7.36am but paramedics were unable to save Whalley, a former beauty queen, whose death is not being treated as suspicious by Cheshire Police.
Classic-winning trainer Palmer said: “Jess was riding a filly that she absolutely adored. She had been instrumental in the filly’s progress at home this winter. We always thought a lot of the horse last year and she didn’t show it.
“Jess I feel has really turned the filly round and her piece of work on Tuesday morning, which were the final minutes of Jess’s life, was a really excellent piece of work. I absolutely know that she would have had a great smile on her face.
“Please God she wins a race and then we can dedicate that win to Jess.”
Palmer said Whalley had finished working the filly and was walking her back when she collapsed out of the saddle.
“Jess had worked the horse, pulled up at the top of the gallop and was then returning to a trot, then a walk," he said. "Jess slipped limply off the horse and didn’t move.
“All deaths are awful but in a 25-year-old, fit, active girl, it is so utterly unexpected.”
Whalley, who entered the Miss Tourism Universe pageant in 2019, had worked in racing in Dubai and Newmarket and moved to the North West last year to become one of the senior members of Palmer’s staff, when he relocated.
“She worked for me for a couple of years in Newmarket,” Palmer said. “Because her father is from this part of the world, I kind of really hoped she would make the move with us.
“She stayed in Newmarket but after a couple of months joined us as one of our travelling head staff and she had really thrived in that role. I’ve been inundated with messages from owners saying how much they will really miss her and how brilliantly she did her job.
“She died doing a job that she appeared to love and was certainly very good at. She was exceptionally capable.”
Palmer is set to send out his first runners since Whalley’s death at Doncaster on Saturday where the stable has four starters on the opening day of the 2023 Flat Turf season.
“Everyone here has pulled together,” said Palmer. “It’s never easy to win races at this time of year but it would be lovely if we could win one of these first few races of the year in Jess’s honour.”
Following the tragedy Owen's Manor House Stables released a statement confirming the tragic event. "It is with deep sadness that we have to announce that a much-valued member of our team died at work this morning," they wrote. "The family have been informed and both the family and the team at Manor House request privacy at this time."
George McGrath, CEO of the National Association of Racing Staff, also paid his own tribute to Whalley, describing her as a "much loved and respected member of the racing community."
"Jessica had worked in Newmarket for a time," McGrath said. "She had gone to re-join Hugo Palmer in Cheshire. She was a much loved and respected member of the racing community and taken from us at much too early in age."
Jockey Zander Voy also wrote his own tribute on social media with a picture of her saying: "It’s heartbreaking to hear Jess lost her life today at the tender age of 25. She was riding out doing what she loved. We had so many great times working in Dubai. May she rest in peace. Here’s her just 72 hours ago"
