Royal salute to Willie Snaith MBE as Newmarket says farewell to racing icon

The racing silks of the Queen fittingly adorned the coffin of former jockey and tour guide Willie Snaith MBE at his funeral at All Saints Church in Newmarket on Wednesday.

There was standing room only as over 400 mourners packed the aisles to say their farewells to the popular local figure whose greatest triumph in the saddle came on the reigning monarch's Landau in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes in 1954.

Willie Snaith's coffin is adorned with the colours of the Queen

Snaith died aged 91 on June 14 after a long and happy life in which he rode 747 domestic winners and many more abroad. Following his retirement from the saddle he rode work for Noel Murless and Sir Henry Cecil at Warren Place before becoming a tour guide around Newmarket to share his many experiences with others.

Among those attending the service, which was conducted by racing chaplain Simon Bailey, were Lady Cecil and Sir Henry's half-brother Arthur Boyd Rochfort representing Warren Place as were Snaith's former colleagues John Scott, John Higgins and Steve 'Yarmy' Dyble.

Lady Cecil and Arthur Boyd Rochfort arrive at the Willie Snaith funeralCredit: Liviu_prisecaru

Other racing figures paying their respects included trainers Charlie Fellowes, John Berry, Conrad Allen, and former handlers Cliff Lines and Gavin Pritchard Gordon.

From the weighing room, Snaith's former colleague Bruce Raymond was also in attendance as was Eric Eldin and Philip Robinson.

Snaith's son John, himself a former jockey, gave a moving reading. based on Kipling's poem "If".

He said: "Dad, you're due to ride in the fluffy clouds handicap stakes. You're odds-on to win and I've given you my whip that you gave me when I was 17. The racecourse is heaven and God bless and good luck. I love you."

Brough Scott, co-founder of the Racing Post and longtime friend and admirer of Snaith, gave a Eulogy.

Brough Scott : gave a moving eulogy

He said: "One of the very best assessments of a person is whether you feel better for having met them and with Willie Snaith it felt better every time.

"He was one of my boyhood heroes and I'd followed him in the papers as a lad watching the racing with my dad. He was in his 40s when I met him and we enjoyed many great days including the never to be forgotten win of the Queen's colt Landau in the Sussex Stakes.

"When I used to see him in later years, when he used to work for the Racing Museum, he used to say 'here comes Landau' and it's fitting that the colours adorn the coffin today."

He added: "They say never meet your heroes, but I met Willie Snaith and felt better every time I did."

Simon Bailey gave an address in which he spoke for many: "We should be proud that he had a road named after him in his lifetime as most people are long gone before the council get around to it. As a consequence he must be the only man on earth ever to open two Tesco stores within 200 yards of each other!"

He added: "Willie was one of the great characters of the sport and how we need more of them as life goes on. We should be proud of the race he has run and proud of the colours he is going with – they don't get much better than the Queen's."

Afterwards there was a private committal at West Suffolk Crematorium and a gathering at Tattersalls.

All donations to the Injured Jockeys' Fund c/o Southgate Of Newmarket Funeral Directors.