JOCKEY KILLED.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3622, 5 April 1927, Page 2

JOCKEY KILLED.

* . ANOTHER IN A CRITICAL CONDITION. Whangarei, Last flight. The otherwise successful meeting of the Whangarei Racing Club was marred on Saturday by an accident in the Northland Hurdles race, one of the victims, E. C. Copestake, dying in hospital at 4.15 this morning. At the jump opposite the five furlong post, Karamu (C. J. Regan) came down through taking off too soon, causing Gold Peak (E. C. Copestakc) which was immediately behind on the rails, to stumble. Llewellyn (G. Holland) went over Gold Peak, but the jockey escaped in this case, with a few facial abrasions. Both Copest ake and Regan were sent to hospital immediately, suffering from fractures at the base of Ihe skull, while Copestakc also had chest injuries. He never recovered consciousness. Regan’s condition is reported to lie slightly improved and there is every hope of his recovery. The deceased jockey was about 36 years of age, and a member of a well-known Taranaki racing family. For many years ho was New Zealand's acknowledged premier cross-country rider, securing important victories in particular with Khartoum and Sir Roseburv. Naturally in bis dangerous calling, 1m had many narrow escapes and twelve months ago suffered a serious fall at Ellerslie which kept him out of the saddle till the last Christmas campaign. His only win since then was oirGold Peak at Wanganui and for that reason he was anxious to secure the mount on Mr J. L. Fogarty’s mare at tliA fixture just concluded. Copestako’s father lives at Pukemiro, one brother at Wanganui, which was the deceased’s hometown, and another at West-field. He will be buried at Wanganui. The inquest was held in Whangarci yesterday when a verdict was returned that death was the result of injuries accidentally received, no blame being attachable to anybody.