John O'Shea and Chris Broad lead tributes to owner Keith Bell after his death at 82

Keith Bell, whose red and blue silks were carried by talented jumpers Mudahim and Kissane, has died at the age of 82.

Starting out as a bricklayer in the 1960s, Bell built a hugely successful construction and house-building business from scratch, one which continues as a series of family firms under the umbrella of KW Bell. 

He first had horses with John Edwards in the 1980s, the best of which was arguably Kissane, who beat The West Awake by five lengths in the 1988 Reynoldstown Novices' Chase at Ascot, a month before that rival landed the SunAlliance Chase (now the Brown Advisory) at Cheltenham.

He then built his own training complex at Elton in the Forest of Dean, bringing in Chris Broad to train. When Broad gave up his licence to become a successful jockeys' agent in 1996, John O'Shea moved in and has remained ever since, while Bell also supported Sophie Leech, who sent out Anteros to win at Cheltenham's Paddy Power meeting in 2016. 

"He gave me a big leg-up in life and I've always been indebted to him," said Broad. "He built the yard and made me a partner. Tudor Racing Stables was a fantastic place to train and Keith got Bob Champion to open the place. We had some very good success and it's very sad."

The horse who really put Broad and Bell on the map was Mudahim, who won the Grade 2 Premier Long Distance Hurdle at Haydock in January 1995 and the-then Grade 1 Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham a week later.

Mudahim was a Grade 1 winner over hurdles for owner Keith Bell, who has died aged 82Credit: Racing Post

"He was the first horse I bought at Newmarket sales and at the time he probably looked expensive," said Broad. "I kept telling people he was a good horse but people would say 'what does he know?' because they felt I hadn't been training long enough.

"He went to Ludlow for his first bumper and I was a bit disappointed he got beat, but the winner was Flakey Dove, who won a Champion Hurdle. He duly bolted up at Catterick and then people were talking about the Champion Bumper. Instead I thought I'd go to Kelso and we'd win with a penalty. He got beat by Jodami. He ran in three bumpers and got beat by a Champion Hurdler and a Gold Cup winner."

road added: "That horse opened a lot of doors for me but it wasn't just him – we had Landed Gentry off Robert Sangster and others."  

Maasai Mara was the last winner O'Shea saddled for Bell at Catterick in February and he said: "I trained for him for 27 years and he was my landlord and a great supporter of the yard who loved his racing. He was just a general all-round good man. We’ve trained a lot of winners for him over the years and he was just a great owner, whether it was good news or bad. 

Maasai Mara was the last winner to carry the colours of Keith Bell when scoring at Catterick last monthCredit: GROSSICK RACING

"He loved a winner at his local track and he was as happy at Hereford or Chepstow as he was anywhere."

He added: "Maasai Mara was his last winner and he created great interest for Keith again. He came to the sales with me last summer and purchased him. 

"He looks a nice horse and the fact that he might have run in better races really really got Keith excited. It was a shame we ran out of time to qualify him for the Boodles, and Keith wouldn’t have wanted to run in the Triumph and finish sixth.

"We moved here in 1996 when Chris packed up and to be in a place that long shows just how well we got on and how loyal he was through good times and bad. His house was only 40 yards from here and he would often come in for a coffee and talk to the staff."