'He conquered the hearts of all the people who crossed his path' - hundreds turn out to remember Stefano Cherchi

When he was 16, Stefano Cherchi told his mother he was leaving to go to Britain to follow his dream of being a jockey. Although she said no, Cherchi told her he was going anyway.

On Sunday, hundreds of people whose lives had been changed for the better by Cherchi’s decision to follow his heart packed into the Our Lady Immaculate and Saint Etheldreda Church in Newmarket to remember him.

There was not enough room in the church to seat everyone. At the front, leant up against the altar, was a picture portrait of the young rider with a soft smile and kind eyes.

It has been a little over a month since Cherchi was hospitalised by a fall while riding at Canberra in Australia. He later died, aged just 23, on April 3, plunging those who knew him best, and the wider racing community, into grief and sorrow.

Since then, everyone who has spoken of Cherchi has remembered him as a charming, polite person with fierce ambition and a devotion to his family. 

Jimmy Quinn, who helped organise the remembrance service, said: “I’d known him since he got here. He was a good lad, very ambitious, and he loved his racing and his job. He just wanted success and to travel the world to do it. 

“I expected a full church and we got one. Everybody turned up and while a couple of things didn’t quite go as planned, I’d say he’s probably looking down laughing. Everyone who knew him knew how much of a nice kid he was, and we wanted to pay our respects. I’m glad they came to do that.”

Among those who came and filled the building beyond its capacity of 350 were trainers Marco Botti and Amy Murphy, for whom Cherchi had worked and shone on the racecourse, plus the likes of Julia Feilden, Des Donovan, John Berry and Robert Eddery.

However, it was Cherchi’s fellow riders who were most prominent. The likes of Derby-winning jockeys Adam Kirby, William Buick and Michael Hills were in attendance, as were Jamie Spencer, Pat Cosgrave, Daniel Muscutt, Neil Callan, Jack Quinlan, Freddy Tylicki and George Baker. 

Paul Struthers and Dale Gibson from the Professional Jockeys Association, BHA chief medical adviser Dr Jerry Hill, and Lisa Hancock, the chief executive of the Injured Jockeys Fund, also paid their respects.

The service at Our Lady Immaculate and Saint Etheldreda Church was full beyond capacity

Eulogies, recalling Cherchi’s kindness and his loving relationship with Brittany Fallon, were read to the audience. So, too, was one by his brother Matteo, who delivered his speech in English due to the importance he placed on everyone understanding who Stefano was.

“Thanks to Stefano, we learned to never be afraid, to never give up on our dreams despite how distant they may be,” he said. “He wanted to conquer the world and he still had a long way to go. But he already did so by conquering the hearts of all the people who crossed his path, thanks to his way of being.”

He also quoted his brother’s words contained in a eulogy read out at a memorial service in Canberra, where he said: “It is tough at times, I’m not going to lie. It depends on how you deal with things, but I’m sure we will be all happy together one day – God has the right plan for all of us.”

He added on Sunday: “All is a very nice word as it can signify a lot, or very little. Today it means a lot. In this ‘all’, Stefano thought about all the people he loved, all the people he tried to take care of when he was here. That ‘all’ that he meant is here in this place today and he is the only one missing.

“Stefano, I think that one day, that moment will come and your plan will come together and we will all be together again. I think you will tell us we did well filling the gap that you left and especially, as usual, you arrived before us.”

Stefano Cherchi:

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