The life of Brighton Racecourse regular and former racehorse owner John Heal will be celebrated at our opening fixture this Saturday 12th April as the wheel turns full circle for his family.
When the flat season opens this weekend at Brighton, the Heal family will be in attendance to honour John, who died earlier this year at the age of 81.
The feature race – the John Charles Heal Memorial Handicap - will be run in recognition of a lifelong Brighton Racecourse-goer, who watched racing at Whitehawk Hill, as well as at Plumpton and Fontwell racecourses, for over 40 years.
John Heal was also an established owner with a string of horses trained by Charlie Moore and more recently, Moore’s son, Gary. But as well as celebrating the life of his late father John, Ryan Heal will also be continuing a family tradition. For 15 years from 1985, Brighton Racecourse also held a race that was named after John’s father – and Ryan’s grandfather – Jimmy Heal. That race was named in Jimmy’s honour and sponsored by John. Now, it’s the turn of Ryan to do the same for his own father, John.
“When my father died a few months ago, one of the first things I wanted to do in his memory was to arrange a memorial race at Brighton,” said Ryan, who is also a racehorse owner.
“My father had done the same for his father, going all the way back to 1985, so we are keeping a little bit of history going – another son, arranging a memorial race for his father.
“My family have always been huge racing fans and I can remember when I was young, the days when we would attend in honour of my grandfather and there would be upwards of 50 family members there.
“This time, there will again be lots of family in attendance on Saturday and it should be a very special day.”
John Heal achieved notable success as an owner, with a horse called High Heaven, which was trained by Charlie Moore and ridden by son, Gary.
Ryan Heal also enjoyed a winner recently when his horse, Hurricane Pat, won at Chepstow.
