A TEENAGER who died in a horror crash over the Easter weekend was a promising young jockey who turned down university to pursue a career in the horse racing industry.

Russell Claydon

A TEENAGER who died in a horror crash over the Easter weekend was a promising young jockey who turned down university to pursue a career in the horse racing industry.

Ben Potter was working in a stud in Thetford to follow his dream of becoming a top horse racing jockey but tragically died in a car crash on the A134 on Saturday.

The popular 19-year-old from Pakenham will be remembered by his friends who are planning a special drink in his memory in Ixworth tomorrow night.

Dennis O'Brien, assistant manager of the Shadwell Estate managed Nunnery Stud where Ben worked for the past two years, last night paid a glowing tribute to him and said they had all been deeply affected by the news.

“He was a promising young rider who was starting to fulfil his potential,” he said. “He was very popular with members of staff and he loved his job and loved his horses. He had been here two years and been based at one of our breeding farms for eight months previous to that.

“Some of our younger members of staff socialised with him a lot and his housemate has been affected very badly. They were all friends as well as work colleagues.

“It is a tragic loss and our thoughts are with his family.”

He added: “As a trainee rider he was getting better and better. He would ride four to five horses a day and a lot of them had just been broken in and were preparing for training so it was quite a responsible job.

“He would have definitely been a very valuable member of any racing yard or establishment like ours.”

The former Thurston Community College pupil also had a passion for football and played for Sunday league village team Norton FC.

On social networking website Facebook, where a page has been setup in his memory, teammates said he would forever be their “twelfth man” on the pitch and they would dearly miss his humour on those cold mornings.

Floral tributes continued to line the scene of the crash where Ben, driving a friend's Seat Ibiza, collided with a Mercedes at around 8.40am on Saturday, near to the Rose and Crown public house in Bridge Street, near Alpheton.