'A great human being' - Mill House's rider Willie Robinson dies at the age of 86

Willie Robinson, former champion jockey in Ireland and rider of the great steeplechaser Mill House during his legendary rivalry with Arkle, has died at the age of 86.

He rode a succession of other big-race winners during his time as stable jockey to Fulke Walwyn in the 1960s, notably Anzio and Kirriemuir (Champion Hurdle), Mandarin (Hennessy Gold Cup) and Team Spirit (Grand National), having also ridden the runner-up in the 1958 Derby.

However, he will be remembered above all as the jockey of Mill House when that great champion triumphed in the Cheltenham Gold Cup of 1963 and later that year beat Arkle (who received 5lb) on their first meeting, in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury. Yet Arkle proved the supreme champion and won each of their four subsequent clashes.

Robinson then proved a successful trainer, winning the Irish 2,000 Guineas with King's Company in 1971.

Tom Taaffe, son of Arkle's rider Pat Taaffe, said: "Mr Robinson and the Robinson family are a fantastic family. They took the highs and lows of life and never complained.

"Growing up, my parents were the very best of friends with Mr and Mrs Robinson and we spent a lot of time in both houses. They're just an amazingly good-natured family.

"He was a fantastic rider, as everybody knows, and a great human being."

Recalling the Arkle and Mill House duels, he added: "They were unbelievable days. To have two champion horses taking each other on for two or three years was wonderful and they clashed so they provided a great spectacle for everybody.

"They were two great riders who had as much fun with each other off the track as they did on it. There was an amazing bond between the two of them, they were very friendly."

Arthur Moore was a close friend of Robinson's and had some lovely things to say about him.

Moore said: "Willie was a true gentleman, always beautifully turned out with his wife Susan. They had attended the local meetings until the Covid-19 restrictions came in.

"He was a natural rider, a beautiful horseman with great hands. He had a lovely seat on a horse.

"He had an impish sense of humour too. It was a real family treat when he would call."

Brough Scott, who rode against Robinson, also paid tribute. He said: "He was one of the tidest of jockeys and people – he was immaculately neat on his horses. He was very pleasant, he was almost too polite to be a jump jockey – but he was a very good one.

"Stables were a lot smaller in those days, Fulke Walwyn probably didn't have 50 horses, but to be his stable jockey was the major job in British racing.

"There was the line in the great Arkle song, 'eat your heart out Willie Robinson', Mill House was a great big horse and he was such a neat little foil to him. They were a great pair.

"He must have been a very nice jockey to have on top if you were a horse – I think I would like to have been ridden by Willie Robinson if I were a horse."

He added: "People were always very fond of Willie, he was a very nice person and you felt better for having been with him and that's a pretty good criteria in my book and so a lot of people will be very sad."

Mill House with Willie Robinson before their finest hour in the 1963 Cheltenham Gold CupCredit: Mark Cranham

WILLIE ROBINSON CV

Full name George William Robinson

Born August 5, 1934

Father George Robinson (farmer, breeder, trainer)

First winner Reinstated, bumper, Navan, June 2, 1954

Grand National winner Team Spirit (1964)

Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Mill House (1963)

Champion Hurdle winners Anzio (1962), Kirriemuir (1965)

Other Cheltenham Festival winners Quita Que (1961 Cathcart Chase), Clerical Grey (1962 Gloucestershire Hurdle, Div 2), Team Spirit (1963 NH Handicap Chase), Some Alibi (1963 Cathcart Chase), Richard Of Bordeaux (1964 Grand Annual Chase), Private Room (1969 Gloucestershire Hurdle, Div 2)

King George VI Chase winner Mill House (1963)

Hennessy Gold Cup winners Mandarin (1961), Mill House (1963), Man Of The West (1968)

Irish Grand National winner Kilballyown (1957)

Leopardstown Chase winners Nibot (1956), Zonda (1959), Jonjo (1961)

John Jameson Cup Chase winner Oberstown (1960)

Power Gold Cup Chase winner Commutering (1961)

Mandarin Chase winners Mill House (1963, 1965), Lord Jim (1970)

Gainsborough Chase winner Mill House (1964, 1965, 1967)

Mildmay Memorial Chase winner Team Spirit (1960)

Galway Plate winner Terossian (1968)

Galway Hurdle winners Tymon Castle (1957), Commutering (1960)

Fighting Fifth Hurdle winner Mugatpura (1969)

Cheltenham Trial Hurdle winner Sempervivum (1966)

Other big-race winners Quita Que (1958 Christmas Chase), Team Spirit (1960 Hurst Park National Trial), Irish Imp (1963 Mackeson Novices' Chase, Tote Investors' Trophy, 1964 Newbury Spring Chase), Dionysus (1964 Coronation Hurdle, Div 2), Sempervivum (1964 Liverpool Hurdle), Pony Express (1968 Coronation Hurdle, Div 1)

Big-race winner on Flat Albany Star (1958 Leopardstown November Handicap)

Derby runner-up Paddy's Point (1958)

Champion jockey in Ireland 1958 (Flat/jumps combined) 46 wins

Highest position in British jump jockeys' table Fifth in 1963-64

Classic winner as trainer King's Company (1971 Irish 2,000 Guineas)

Cork and Orrery Stakes winners as trainer King's Company (1971), Kearney (1980)

Last winner as trainer Lupine, Curragh, September 21, 2003