Funeral of former amateur jockey Robert Crosby to take place next week

Robert Crosby, an amateur jockey and a familiar figure to many in racing circles for decades, has died at the age of 68, his family has announced. Crosby rode over the Grand National fences and was particularly proud of finishing fourth in the Czech Republic's version, the Velka Pardubicka.

He made his name as a horseman in the early 1980s when he was part of the well-known Boring Gorings in team chasing, set up by the hotelier George Goring. He sourced horses for various clients and at one time also helped bring stable staff from Europe to work in British racing yards. In recent years, he has worked as a driver for jockeys including Ali Rawlinson.

His daughter, Emma Dennis, says the family plans to scatter his ashes at the fearsome Taxis fence at Pardubice. She adds: "I've got a lovely photo of him clearing that fence, with other horses falling and him making it look easy."

It was aboard Boreen King in 1992 that Crosby achieved his best result in the Pardubicka. He also partnered Kambalda Rambler in the race and rode the same horse in the Liverpool Foxhunters in the year that Rolling Ball won.

"He never had a riding lesson in his life," Dennis says. "His father sat him on a horse at the age of two and he learned as he went along. 

"He was absolutely fearless. So many people have said to me, you don't know what a legend your father is. 

"He was very widely known in racing and had a strong personality, which I might have inherited. He'd take no nonsense but he was great company."

Valerie Morton, owner of Kambalda Rambler and Boreen King, said: "To us, he was always an absolute gentleman and a good mate. He was so talented a horseman, you couldn't believe the things he would do and get away with it. 

"He always thought he was so hot on the dance floor and he wasn't, he hadn't got a beat in his head. He was a laugh a minute when you got to know him."

Rawlinson said: "Robert loved his racing and watched it every day, religiously. Just to have him around, with his knowledge of racing, was a great thing. 

"Whether you had a good day or a bad one, you didn't need to explain it to him, he'd been there and done it. He was a gent and he'd do anything to help you."

The funeral will be held at Great Glen Crematorium in Leicester next Thursday at 11.30am. The family have suggested that anyone wishing to remember him could make a donation to the Injured Jockeys Fund.