Kieren Fallon pays tribute following death of Racing Post Weekender writer John O'Hara at 63

John O'Hara, the respected racing journalist who kept Racing Post Weekender readers supplied with endless amounts of useful information through his long-running Straight From The Stable column over many years, has died at the age of 63.

O'Hara's grandfather and father ran an independent bookmaking business in Boston, Lincolnshire, and John soon fell in love with racing. He started out tipping on his local paper the Boston Standard, before The Sporting Life editor Mike Gallemore gave him his national break.

Further stints followed on the racing service for Teletext, The Sportsman and The Guardian, as well as contributions to the Racing Post Weekender for more than 25 years, penning the stable tours and the Off Piste series of interviews. He also worked closely with Sir Henry Cecil and Kieren Fallon on regular columns for The Weekender.

"John and I did a thing for The Weekender and it was really good," said Fallon. "I think everybody loved it and it was really successful.

"We'd put up horses to follow – maybe who had been unlucky in running or run over the wrong distance – and we'd work it out between us. We had a really good run and he was extremely enjoyable to work with."

Kieren Fallon: "John O'Hara was a kind, down to earth guy and a pleasure to work with"Credit: Patrick McCann

Fallon added: "He loved his racing and we'd go off to the Breeders' Cup. I went over to the house in Peterborough and they were a lovely family. John knew his racing, that's for sure. Usually when somebody dies everyone will say 'what a lovely fella', but John genuinely was. He was a kind, down to earth guy and a pleasure to work with. He had so much knowledge, I didn't have to do a whole lot of homework.

"If I had a bad day or a bad moment, he'd always know it. He was a lovely guy to be around and he'll be sadly missed."

O'Hara continued to write the Straight From The Stable column after taking early retirement from The Guardian and filed his final piece, a stable tour with Shaquille's trainer Julie Camacho, for last week's edition.

"He loved racing and everything to do with it," said O'Hara's son Edward. "There was Royal Ascot and the Ebor meeting of course, but Dad loved Newmarket more than anywhere; that was racing home to him and to us."

O'Hara is survived by his wife Bridget and sons Edward and George. A date for the funeral has not yet been confirmed but the service is expected to be at St Kyneburgha church in Castor, Cambridgeshire.