In the saddle, the Irishman's greatest triumph was in partnership with Dawn Run, the only horse to have won both the Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup.

He also guided Sea Pigeon to victory in the Champion Hurdle and to Flat glory in the Tote Ebor and had another Gold Cup win on Alverton.

Twice champion jockey, he retired with 885 winners and then came through his biggest battle - with cancer.

His first big winner as a trainer came with Gipsy Fiddler at Royal Ascot in 1990.

A Cheltenham winner in the shape of Danny Connors followed a year later.

His first decade as a trainer saw him based at Penrith in Cumbria.

But in 2001 one of his main owners, JP McManus, installed him in the famous training establishment of Jackdaws Castle in Gloucestershire.

His career has really taken off since then and last season he reached the century mark for winners for the first time.