A group of Irish jockeys are donating their riding fees this weekend to cancer research.
The heartwarming gesture was sparked by Chris Hayes who wanted to support his good friend and fellow rider Pat Smullen as he battles pancreatic cancer.
But when Hayes revealed on Twitter that he was going to donate all his riding fees to Cancer Trials Ireland, he might not have expected such a big response.
Soon fellow jockeys - Donnacha O'Brien, Gary Halpin and Conor Hoban - followed suit in pledging to give away their fees at the Curragh on Saturday and Leopardstown on Sunday.
Hayes told the Irish Mirror: "Racing is a great industry for that - when someone is in need or having a low patch, we all rattle around together.
"Everyone starts rooting up and getting together any help they can and support they can offer."
Limerick man Hayes, 32, lost his mother to cancer last year and can appreciate Smullen's situation as the 42-year-old undergoes another round of chemotherapy.
He said: "I try and leave Pat to his own devices. He'd be a good friend and a mentor of mine who I probably tormented for advice through the years and even recently.
"But I just leave him to it, it's a tough enough time at the moment, so it'd be more messages is how I'd keep in contact."
It was an easy decision for Hayes to try and help Cancer Trials Ireland who have two pancreatic trials ready to start - one is a trial on a new drug and another in radiotherapy.
And all proceeds raised over the upcoming Longines Irish Champions Weekend will ensure the trials start as soon as possible.
Hayes added: "I just wanted to get a bit of awareness for the weekend. It's great that some of the other lads have jumped on this too.
"Every little helps and even if someone only has one ride this weekend and they could afford to do it, it would make some difference to the whole trial thing.
"It's a matter of rallying around Pat. He was a colleague of ours in the weighing room up to two years ago and still very close friends with a lot of us.
"Anything we can do, we want to do."
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