Nicholls mourns loss of 'all-round brilliant horsewoman' Rose Loxton

Paul Nicholls has paid tribute to "brilliant horsewoman" Rose Loxton, who died at the age of 59 on Friday after a long battle with cancer.

Loxton began working at Ditcheat in 2002 and held the distinction of having looked after four-time Stayers' Hurdle winner Big Buck's, as well as Kauto Star in the latter stages of his exemplary career.

Alongside her role as head girl, she was also a successful point-to-point trainer and won the Champion Hunters Chase at Punchestown with Caid Du Berlais in 2018 and 2019. She also trained Shantou Flyer, who was third in this year's Foxhunter Chase at Cheltenham.

Caid Du Berlais: won twice at the Punchestown festival for Rose LoxtonCredit: Caroline Norris

"She was an all-round brilliant horsewoman and it's terribly sad," said Nicholls. "All our young staff looked up to her and she was a mother figure to them as well as to her kids and grandchildren. She looked after everyone and was a massive part of all our lives.

"She was brilliant with Big Buck's. He wasn't an easy character. He was a big baby and Rose mothered him. She knew how to deal with him and he wouldn't have won so often without her hard work."

That view was shared by Nicholls' head lad Clifford Baker, who said: "Rose looked after Big Buck's from day one. He box-walked so she would stand in his stables with him on open days and racedays.

"She was a massive help to me personally. She'd do all the things that I often didn't have time to do and brought great expertise from her work with the pointers. You could trust her implicitly.

"She had a good sense of humour too and just got on with her work. She was a really good egg and we were lucky to have her around.

Rose Loxton and her husband Sam with Coronation Gold Cup winner Chameron

"To be associated with her for so long was a pleasure. She was a major part of the yard's success. When you have good horses you need a good team, too, and she enjoyed everything along with it."

Loxton suffered serious injuries after a fall in November 2018 and while receiving treatment it was discovered that she had cancer. She returned to work last autumn but at the turn of this year decided to step down from her job at Nicholls' yard to focus on her pointers.

"It's been hard because we thought she'd got over her illness last summer," added Nicholls. "She was so tough and fought it until the end. The love of the pointers and the people kept her going. The way she grafted as hard as she did while suffering is testament to her."

Loxton began training horses to run in point-to-points in 2010 and had a remarkable record, saddling 55 winners from 104 runners in point-to-points and 23 winners from 47 runners in hunter chases.

She took the operation to a new level four years later and provided a number of winners for Megan Nicholls, one of a number of young jockeys including Bryony Frost to benefit riding in points for her.

Loxton, who was Britain's champion hunters' chase trainer in the 2018-19 season, also trained the two most recent winners of Larkhill's Coronation Gold Cup, namely Monsieur Gibraltar and Chameron, who is part-owned by Nicholls and his stable jockey Harry Cobden.

(From left to right) Paul Nicholls, Anugs Cheleda, Rose Loxton and John Bolton after Chameron's win at Larkhill

"When Megan turned 16 I wanted someone to train the pointers for her to ride and I mentioned it to her. She did absolutely brilliantly and carried on from there. She did a great job sweetening up some of our ex-chasers with her husband Sam. They were a great team."

Her commitment was recognised in 2019 when she was highly commended in the Stable Person of the Year category at the McCoys, the Jockey Club awards recognising excellence in jump racing.

"That was an amazing night and one we'll never forget. So too was winning the Coronation Cup earlier this year. She did fantastically well with the pointers up until the end and leaves a special legacy."

Loxton is survived by her husband Sam, their children Martina, Polly and Freddie, as well as four grandchildren.