BENDIGO trainer Kym Hann paid tribute to track worker, stablehand and friend Donna Philpot after leading in Echuca winner All About Nicci on Monday.
Philpot regularly rode trackwork for the young Bendigo trainer and had ridden the four-year-old mare in most of her gallops in the weeks before her death at Bendigo racecourse on June 27.
“Donna rode that horse a fair bit, she probably did her last five or six week’s work on that horse before she raced,” Hann said. “It’s left everyone very sad.
“Our families knew each other well, so it’s been tough.”
Hann said Philpot’s tragic passing had been felt by everyone associated with racing in Bendigo and further abroad.