09 February 2012 Donna Kingdon
by Carolyn Tanner
Donna Kingdon died on Tuesday at the age of 31 after a long battle with cancer. Her mother and sister, and her partner Ashley Farrant, were at her bedside at the hospice in South Devon where she had been resident for some time.
Donna had always worked with horses, and last season trained three Point-to-Pointers herself. Prior to that she was based for a year with Richard Woollacott, and she also spent some time with Nick Ayliffe, while in the mid-2000s she went to Australia to work in racing for six months.
In paying tribute to Donna, Richard described her as "A wonderful girl. She was a brilliant rider, and an even better person."
She was a huge support to Ashley during the season of his epic championship battle with Richard Burton in 2004, and after going their separate ways the pair got back together two years ago.
Ashley is training a half-brother to Tamarinbleu called Takamaru, who has been unplaced in Bumpers and over hurdles for David Pipe. Owned by himself and Donna, the six-year-old will run in her name and colours when he makes his debut between the flags in two or three weeks' time.
The funeral takes place next Friday, February 17th, at Challacombe, Devon, at 2pm.
