'If I'm dead I'll still be dead when you get back' - Mick Ryan's parting shot

John Ryan has paid tribute to his father Mick, who died last week aged 80, and said the late Newmarket trainer would have been happy that his son was racing in Bahrain at the time of his death.

Mick Ryan, who trained more than 700 winners, including the Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Katies, died in West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds last Thursday.

Ryan arrived back from a racing trip to the Middle East on Sunday where he had a runner in a Listed race the day after his father's death.

He said: "Before I left for Bahrain last week I was worried because Dad was very poorly but he said, 'You go off and do your job, I'll see you when you get back. If I'm dead I'll still be dead when you get back!' People from that era really were a different breed."

Ryan, who succeeded his father at Cadland House Stables in 2005, added: "He went in with a blood infection and there were complications but they did their best for him. He didn't miss too much in life. He didn't leave too many stones unturned. The big thing for him was when my son Jack was born as he'd always wanted a grandson. The name carries on."

John Ryan: 'Dad touched a lot of people including many we didn't know about'

Ryan has spent much of the last few days replying to messages or taking phone calls from friends and associates of his father, many of whom he did not even know.

He said: "I've had so many messages about him. People like Mick Channon. Mick got into the game as when he was playing football he used to come down and meet up for a drink with the old man. Dad touched a lot of people including many we didn't know about from lads through to owners and trainers and other people he had worked with."

As well as the messages, Ryan has been reminded of some of the funniest stories about his father. He said: "I was talking to Robert Nobbs, who is manager over at the Heath Court Hotel, where my dad used to spend a lot of his time at the bar and where he used to take his owners.

"When Robert first started he was working one evening when Dad was entertaining a bunch of Irish lads in the restaurant. It was gone midnight and everyone had gone to bed bar his party and Robert was keen to call it a night. In the end he put two bottles of Johnny Walker Black on the table and a jug of water and said goodnight. When he came back the following morning to start breakfast, they were still there!"

There was also another tale involving a horse, as Ryan related: "Some boys from Ireland owned a horse in the yard called Fort Fox. He was a 17.2 hands strapping chaser.

"The group came over one weekend but didn't come into the yard on the Saturday as they got there late and just stayed at the bar in the Heath Court. Dad and the group were still going strong on Sunday morning evidently when they were supposed to come around the yard so I ended up taking the horse to the hotel. I actually walked the horse into the bar! Someone has a photo of the horse standing at the bar being given carrots on a silver platter."

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'One of the greatest horsemen I ever knew' – HQ trainer Mick Ryan dies aged 80

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