'He would quite happily line most humans up against a wall and shoot them with a bazooka!'

Trainer Paul Felgate, who was renowned as a fantastic horseman but less comfortable in his dealings with people, has died at the age of 81 following a long illness.

He was best known for his exploits with smart sprinters such as Gemini Fire, Jonacris and Shuttlecock Corner, who gave him his biggest win in the Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster in 1988.

Ray Cochrane was on board for that success and said: "I rode Paul some nice winners and he was a lovely trainer to ride for, he never blamed you when you messed up.

"He was an unassuming fellow, you'd wander into the paddock and chat about the horse a bit and that would be it. But when he went for a nice race, the horses came up with the goods – it was rare they disappointed. He had a good knack with them.

"I remember Shuttlecock Corner well, he was a cracking little horse who was very tough and honest, which was typical of all Paul's horses."

Ray Cochrane: "When he went for a nice race, the horses came up with the goods - it was rare they disappointed"Credit: Edward Whitaker

Felgate was a successful amateur jump jockey and trained nearly 100 jumps winners from his first base in Nottinghamshire before switching to the Flat and moving to Leicestershire.

HIs daughter Sally Steed recalled: "Prior to these days of satellite television and instant internet racing results, you could always tell how the horses had run on the day by the way the colour bag was brought home – either hurled through the door or placed down nicely!

"He once told an owner that his horse would never win a race as long as it had a hole up its backside. The owner promptly took the horse away and it won next time out for its new trainer.

“He had an aversion to most humans and was once quoted in a television interview as saying he would quite happily line most of them up against a wall and shoot them with a bazooka! When his name was mentioned locally, one response was that 'he was a fantastic horseman but shocking with people'."

Felgate's knowledge of his horses was underlined by Gemini Fire, who was 33-1 outsider of the field in the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood in 1986, having finished only third in a nursery just a fortnight earlier, but made all under Steve Cauthen to win by a short head.

A similar attacking policy nearly paid huge dividends with Gosforth Park Cup winner Jonacris, who split top-class fillies Committed and Habibti when a 16-1 second in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York in 1984.

Felgate retired in 2008 after training for 36 years, saying: "It's been very special."

Steed added: "In his later years he judged at local point-to-points and loved his dogs and cattle. He was a natural sportsman, he loved wildlife and the countryside but racing was his life."