RACING:JOSH GIFFORD, one of racing's best known and most loved figures, died in the early hours of yesterday morning at the age of 70. Gifford was intrinsically linked to the Grand National after the exploits of Aldaniti and Bob Champion in 1981.

Aldaniti was an incredibly hard horse to keep sound and Champion had only recently recovered from cancer, but the pair powered to victory and their exploits were immortalised in the film Champions.

Gifford had been treated in hospital for a severe case of septicaemia and had only recently returned home. His son, Nick, who had taken over as his father’s successor at Findon, in West Sussex, said: “I’m afraid he passed away in the early hours. He’d been back home for about three weeks, but he took a turn for the worse yesterday evening.”

Champion said he was indebted to his former boss, labelling him “a great man”.

But Gifford was far more than just a one-horse man, and before he turned his hand to training he was one of the best jockeys of his era and was crowned champion on four occasions. He had four Cheltenham Festival successes in the saddle and finished second in the 1967 Grand National on Honey End behind the legendary 100 to 1 winner Foinavon.

He retired from the saddle before he turned 30 to start a training career that saw him win most of the major races on the calendar, although his biggest regret was that he was never champion trainer. It looked on the cards in 1988 before the victory of Desert Orchid in the Whitbread Gold Cup saw David Elsworth overtake him on the final day of the season.

Arguably Gifford’s best horse was Kybo, who won the 1978 Christmas Hurdle, but injury prevented him from reaching his full potential. Horses like Queen Mother winner Deep Sensation, Bradbury Star, who won the Mackeson Gold Cup two years running, and Katabatic were among the best he trained. In all he trained 1,587 winners before he handed over his licence to his son in 2003.