Apparently averse to hounds, he would gather up the other horses in the field if he could hear the local hunt coming through, drive the youngsters into a yard, and stand guard at the entrance.

Libby says: "Frank would not pay a lot in stallion fees, reasoning you had no idea what you would get and the foal might die in a week. Despite a hefty 11st 5lb on his back, an amateur rider of 48 and a Rutland farmer as his trainer, Grittar lined up as the 7/1 favourite, and while it took a few seconds for Gilman's lilac hooped colours to emerge from the mists of a 39-runner field in full tilt towards the first fence, from that point on favourite backers had a clear view of the horse carrying their money.Libby says: "I helped out with the local Riding For Disabled in Stamford, and I was asked if they could bring a group to see the Grand National winner.

Clifton said on Sunday: "My daughter Sarah got married in September and we had him as a bit of a guest. The only problem with ACE was he was a bad traveller thus he raced mainly at his local tracks,if he'd travelled better he would have had more recognition than he had.Dureing the race I was qatching in hope more than anything, as they were coming of the back straight I though this has a real chance. Willie Mullins' charge inflicted a second narrow defeat on a David Christie runner when beating Vaucelet in the Punchestown Champion Hunter Chase. The brother was difficult – I took him to Leicester races one day, he got loose in the paddock, escaped through a door in the [adjacent] wall and headed into the city. The race would see the clash of the rising star within the division, Burning Ambition, and the proven track recruit, Gilgamboa, who had won the two hunter chases over Christmas. Instead, the temptation of another Cheltenham Foxhunter Chase was taken, and while Spartan Missile gave Diana a fine ride and carried her into sixth place behind the Alan Hill-ridden Elmboy he finished lame.

Libby, who has held a number of administrative roles in pointing and was a steward until the end of the 2018/19 season, says of her father-in-law: "He was a big-hearted person and a very kind man who at Christmas loved giving people boxes of chocolates and turkeys. Burning Ambition failed to fire at Cheltenham, where it was a second successive victory for Pacha Du Polder, whilst at Aintree there were emotional scenes, as the late Peggy Hagan’s Balnaslow came home in front for Derek O’Connor and Graham McKeever.Chaser, on the other hand, connotes a sense of pursuit or following but doesn't necessarily imply the act of catching or killing.