Séamus McGrath: The death of Séamus McGrath has removed from the sporting scene a man who played a leading role in the remarkable post-war renaissance of Irish flat racing.
It was appropriate that he should do so as he was both the eldest and last survivor of three sons of Joe McGrath, the founder of the Irish Hospital Sweepstakes who had helped to lay the building blocks of success when persuading the Government of the necessity to plan for the post-war era.
Séamus McGrath's dream took the form of a racing board deriving its finances from a levy on racecourse betting and which today exists in an enlarged form as Horse Racing Ireland.
After a spell in the accounts department of the Irish Bottling Company, Séamus took out an amateur rider's licence and a trainer's licence in 1942.
He had only a handful of jumpers as his father's large team of flat horses were then in training at the Curragh with Michael Collins, including that year Windsor Slipper, the last winner of the Irish 'Triple Crown', while his mother's jumpers were with Senator JJ Parkinson.
It was plain that Séamus would have to prove himself against formidable opposition and it was an indication of what training his first winner meant that he gave the name Tayanglet to his home in Foxrock.
Tayanglet scored over hurdles at the Leopardstown Christmas meeting of 1943 and when Joe McGrath and Michael Collins split up, Séamus was given responsibility for training the colts and fillies that had been bred at the Brownstown Stud on the edge of the Curragh.
The stables were at Glencairn - from whence "Boss" Croker's Orby had become the first Irish-trained English Derby winner. There had been no more Irish winners since and while Epsom success would evade Séamus, his near misses in the 1950s with Panslipper (Derby) and Silken Glider (Oaks) served notice that Irish Classic winners were just around the corner.
Panaslipper, a son of Windsor Slipper, came home and in the hands of Jimmy Eddery upset the hot favourite Hugh Lupus in the Irish Derby. In the years ahead, Séamus would win all five Irish Classics and he got special pleasure from the victory of Weaver's Hall in the Irish Sweeps Derby, a sponsorship initiated by his father.
His best horse and indeed the finest Irish stayer of the 20th century was Levmoss, which having won the Ascot Gold Cup and the French version, the Prix du Cadran, secured an unequalled hat-trick by winning the 1969 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Less than 12 months later, Levmoss's full- sister, Sweet Mimosa, became the first and so far only Irish filly to win the French Oaks, the Prix de Diane.
When he finally retired in 1983 - the family's sale of land at Glencairn for housing was one of the biggest property deals of its day - he had been champion trainer four times and among the apprentice riders indentured to him had been Jimmy Eddery's son, Pat, who would secure not merely an Irish championship in 1982, but 11 English titles between 1974 and 1996. McGrath went on to serve two terms as a Steward of the Turf Club.
A Dublin man who spoke his mind without fear or favour, he once summarised his attitude to betting by saying: "First time out the horse belongs to me - after that he belongs to the public!"
When invited by Queen Elizabeth to join her for Royal Ascot, he was quick to pick on the irony of his being a guest of Her Majesty as he rode in the Royal procession. whereas being a guest of the queen's grandfather George V had carried a very different connotation for his father in the aftermath of 1916.
He took a keen interest in all forms of sport, being a past captain of the Foxrock golf club, a game he played into his 80th year.
Earlier he had played rugby in the wing forward position and, being a keen walker, he kept fit to the end of his life.
Charity and religion played major if unobtrusive roles in his life and among honours accorded him was a papal nomination as a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, an organisation whose origins date back to the time of the Crusades.
Séamus is survived by Rosemary, his wife of 58 years, his five children Pamela, Joseph, Peter, Robert and David and 15 grand children.
Séamus McGrath: born February 21st, 1923; died July 1st, 2005