Jockey Kenny Bourque Dies at 67

Funeral services have been established for longtime jockey Kenny "Chopper" Bourque, who died Dec. 29 in Taylorsville, Ky., at age 67 from liver cancer.

According to his daughter, Tiffany Bourque, a funeral and mass will be held at St. Michael Catholic Church in Louisville Jan. 11 at 10 a.m. ET. A memorial will be in the spring.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story listed All Saints Catholic Church in Taylorville as the site of the funeral, but the family has changed the location and time of the service.

The oldest of six siblings, Bourque was born in Abbeville, La., not far from Lafayette, where many Cajun-born riders learned to ride at unsanctioned racetracks called "bush tracks." He and his youngest brother, Curt, became successful riders.

He gained the nickname "Chopper" as a youth, owing to his front teeth, and the name stuck for his life on the racetrack. He was the leading rider at defunct Jefferson Downs in Kenner, La., in the late 1970s and at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots during its 1986-87 meet. Bourque retired in 1999 having won 2,467 races from 19,873 rides with earnings of more than $20.4 million.

In addition to plying his trade in his home state of Louisiana, he rode in Kentucky, winning the Iroquois Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs in 1996 for late trainer Jim Keefer, and Bourque settled in the state when his riding career ended. He worked in the automobile and truck industry before resuming galloping and becoming an assistant trainer. In recent years, he was assistant clerk of scales at Churchill Downs and Keeneland.

"He missed the track. It was like his second home," said Tiffany, a widely respected racing official in Kentucky.

Tiffany said that current jockeys such as Corey Lanerie and Robby Albarado looked up to her father as they were beginning their riding careers. 

"Then for us as a family, he always was there, even if he couldn't physically be there. You could call him. Every time he was there," Tiffany said. "He literally helped me build my house. Him and my brothers and brothers-in-law laid my floor. They laid the tile in my house. He was just a dependable, loving person."

Kenny Bourque is survived by a large extended family that includes his mother, Louella, and his wife of 46 years, Mary. His siblings include Curt, Donald Bourque, Lynda Coco, Teresa Bourque, and Becky Pullin. He leaves behind six children—Tiffany, Kenny Bourque Jr., Jamie Frensley, Dustin Bourque, Michael Bourque, and Samatha Soutar—plus nine grandchildren.