Racing rallies round with €70,000 donated to fund for James Cronin

A fundraising page to support the family of James Cronin, a familiar face from the sales who died earlier this month, has approached €70,000.

A funeral service was held on Tuesday at Our Lady Immaculate and St Etheldreda Catholic Church in Newmarket for the 47-year-old, who looked after the 2005 Derby winner Motivator when working for Michael Bell.

Cronin, who had later worked for Baroda and Overbury Studs at the sales, was remembered by a minute’s silence at Tattersalls on the morning that he died, having suffered a fatal injury while staying at a friend's house in the town.

Originally from Dublin, Cronin is survived by father Jimmy, mother Anita and his partner Caitriona.

Baroda’s Tamso Doyle, who organised the GoFundMe page with Mark McStay, said: "There has been an amazing response from the industry, with almost 500 donors from around the world so far.

"James was a really popular guy and a great horseman and although I’m sure plenty of the donors knew him, there will have been many others who didn’t but still wanted to help."

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