'He was extremely dominant and it was an honour to ride for him' - trainer Jonathan Sheppard dies at 82

Hugely successful American jumps trainer Jonathan Sheppard has been hailed as "a complete gentleman and a great man" by one rider after his death at the age of 82.

Sheppard was born in Herefordshire and came within a length and a half of winning the Champion Hurdle in his native country when Flatterer found only See You Then too good at Cheltenham in 1987.

The same horse had finished second in the French Champion Hurdle the previous year but it was in the US that Sheppard made his mark, being the leading steeplechase trainer by wins 26 times and by earnings 29 times.

Flatterer won the American steeplechase Triple Crown, the only horse to do so, and his trainer also won the prestigious Colonial Cup a record 11 times.

Sheppard, who rode in point-to-points in Britain but crossed the Atlantic to start training in the 1960s, was the first man to send out 1,000 jumps winners in the USA.

Jamie Osborne, who was a leading British jump jockey before becoming a trainer, recalled: "I did a few stints in Saratoga and I had the pleasure of riding for him. He was a complete gentleman and a great man.

"He probably understood American jump racing better than anyone and that's why he was the most successful trainer. He was extremely dominant at the time and it was an honour to ride for him when I went out there."

Sheppard also trained with success on the Flat, often for George Strawbridge who owned his 2008 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Forever Together. His other notable Flat winners included Informed Decision, who landed the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint in 2009, and Storm Cat, a high-class two-year-old of 1985 who went on to become champion sire in North America.

Sheppard, whose former assistant Graham Motion is now a Kentucky Derby and Dubai World Cup-winning trainer, retired in 2021 having been inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1990.