'We're determined to continue, though some of them couldn't face it'

There were plenty of tears but also a gritty determination that the show must go on at Haydock on Saturday night.

A rousing and emotional minute's applause took place before the first race in honour of stalls handler Stephen Yarborough, who the previous day at the track had lost his life doing the job he loved.

Yarborough’s colleagues, jockeys and their wives, and valets lined up beside the winning post before the opening contest to pay tribute to a man who gave 30 years’ sterling service to racing.

While the early-morning announcement that the meeting would take place as scheduled did take some by surprise, it was difficult to find anyone at the track disagreeing with the decision to race.

Six of the 11 stalls handlers who had been at Haydock the dreadful day before were back to do their jobs, although many were clearly finding it difficult.

“We’re all determined to continue, though some of the guys couldn’t face coming back here today,” said RaceTech’s racing operations and safety manager Andy Peverell as he fought back tears.

“We discussed it with all the guys and they wanted the meeting to go on today."

Jockeys gather before the first wearing black armbands in Stephen Yarborough's memoryCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Yarborough was a widower with two children, and RaceTech’s CEO John Bozza said: “We’ve been in regular contact with the family and we are doing all we can to help.

“We wouldn’t have gone ahead with this meeting if they’d been against it, but they were happy for the meeting to go ahead.

“There has been fantastic support from all in the racing community for what was a freak and horrific accident.”

Peverell added: “It’s a testament to the fantastic job that all the stall handlers do that there has never been a fatality on the racecourse before. It’s ironic that no horses were involved in this accident.”

Clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright admitted it had been difficult to weigh up whether the meeting should go ahead.

“We had to decide whether it was the right thing to do, but there were also technical problems,” he said.

“The incident is still the subject of a police investigation and they have impounded the starting stalls and the tractor that was involved.

“We wouldn’t have been able to go ahead without stalls but managed to get some from Catterick to allow us to race, and the police have released the site.

“One of the races tonight will be staged from the one and a quarter mile start where it happened."

Tellwright added: “The overwhelming feedback from our members is that the meeting should have taken place tonight, and if it hadn’t been tonight we would have to have started again some time.”

Culture Club were performing a live concert after the six-race card but Tellwright insisted that had not influenced the decision to give the go-ahead to racing.

“There’s been a lot of thought put into this and we believe this has been done for the right reasons,” he said.

RaceTech’s racing operations and safety manager Andy Peverell: 'We’re all determined to continue, though some of the guys couldn’t face coming back here today'Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Tom Eaves summed up the mood of jockeys, who like colleagues around the country wore black armbands, before they joined in the touching tribute before the first race.

“The stall handlers do heroic work – they are brilliant looking after us and the horses,” he said.

“I was riding at Hamilton yesterday and when the news came through about what happened there was a hush at the starting gates. Usually everybody is joking and having a bit of a fun, but there was none of that last night.”

Regular racegoer Mike Jones, from Ormskirk, said: “We’d have been disappointed if the meeting had been called off.

“The main thing of course was whether the stalls handlers' family were happy for the meeting to take place, and as they were then I'm sure the right decision was reached.”