Death of popular former lightweight jockey Richard Fox
Fox, originally from Cork, died at the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds at 1am on Tuesday, aged 57.
Fox never fully regained consciousness since collapsing while shopping in Newmarket on April 30 when he had to be revived by doctors after his heart stopped beating for 15 minutes.
The jockey, one of modern racing’s best liked characters, suffered an aneurysm that came close to claiming his life while riding out on the Newmarket gallops in 1999.
Despite undergoing an eight-and-a-half hour operation, he lost none of his impish sense of humour, saying afterwards: “It took them eight hours to find my brain and half an hour to tidy it up. I am now a walking time-bomb — an Irishman with a brain.”
Fox started out as an apprentice with Frenchie Nicholson and rode his first winner in 1972.
He enjoyed a successful career as a lightweight and won many of the top handicaps, including the Lincoln, Cesarewitch and Northumberland Plate.
Since retiring, he had appeared as the double for actor Rupert Grint in the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets film.
Fox is survived by his wife Marie and two children. His daughter Francesca, who lives in America, while his son Dominic is a former jockey who now works for trainer Alan Bailey in Newmarket.
