Libranno owner-breeder Kathleen McDowell dies at the age of 80

Kathleen McDowell, who owned and bred consistent Group winner Libranno with her husband Oliver, has died at the age of 80.

McDowell, who is survived by four children, 15 grandchildren and three great grandchildren, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's ten years ago and passed away last week.

She became a familiar face to many in the sport thanks to the exploits of their horses, including Scarteen Fox, who won what was the Somerville Tattersall Stakes in 1999 for David Elsworth and Mick Kinane, but their flagship horse was the Richard Hannon snr-trained Libranno, a homebred whose biggest success came in Doncaster's Park Stakes in 2012.

"It's very sad, in April we had our 60th wedding anniversary," said Oliver McDowell, who has also had horses with Guy Harwood, Mick Ryan and Reg Hollinshead among others.

Libranno: classy performer for the McDowell familyCredit: Mark Cranham

"The two of us were into horses. Coming from Ireland, Kathleen was surrounded by animals and she had many good friends in racing. I bought our first horse very much on the quiet. She'd gone back to Ireland with the children and I'd gone to Reg Hollinshead and asked him to buy me a yearling, but she was delighted when she got home!

"Guy Harwood then got us another, which we didn't really want and couldn't really afford, but we had two and it went from there."

McDowell, who had hopes of being a jockey in his youth until weight forced a different career path, added: "When we won the Somerville Tattersall Stakes, Derek Thompson had interviewed me on TV before the race and then we were interviewed after and Brough Scott found out Kathleen could sing. He talked her into singing, but that interview went on and on and on.

"When Brough was off the air I asked why he'd gone on so long and he replied, 'The producers told me to milk it and keep it going as that's what they wanted'. It was probably one of the longest post-race interviews he'd ever done!

"Kathleen was also a great cook and famous for her picnics at the races and Goodwood was her favourite for that. We'd have owners, trainers and jockeys there and she never turned anyone away."

Libranno, McDowell continued, was "probably" his late wife's favourite.

"We bred him having raced his dam, Annabelle Ja, who was named after three of our grandchildren," he said. "We had an Anna, an Isabelle and James, but the commentators always used to call her Annabella Ya, so I always told Derek Thompson it was Ja for James."

The funeral will take place at noon on November 23 at the Church of The Assumption in Chigwell, Essex. No donations are requested.