Flagship owner who conquered the heights of jump racing

Graham Roach, who owned dual Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Viking Flagship among a host of distinguished jumps winners, has died at the age of 69.

Roach, who made his fortune with Cornish bacon and ham processing business Roach Foods, also trained and enjoyed considerable success in the 1980s handling Prideaux Boy. The horse developed into a top-class hurdler, winning the Lanzarote and Swinton Hurdles and finishing fourth to See You Then in the 1986 Champion Hurdle before switching to fences late in life.

However, Roach found it impossible to do training justice while running a growing business and said at the time: "Cornwall is too far down geographically and there were so many business commitments. I wasn't able to split myself in half and make it work, and it was the business that always had to come first."