'He was instantly recognisable as a sharp dresser with a well-trimmed beard'

Captain Jimmy Wilson, who held a trainer's licence under both codes for 50 years, died peacefully, surrounded by his family at his home at Sollom, near Southport, Lancashire on Friday. He was 94.

James Hume Wilson first took out a training licence on leaving the South Lancashire regiment in 1948 and trained first at Malpas, and then at Sollom, until his retirement in 1998. His daughter, Geraldine Rees, who had been the first woman to complete the course in the Grand National on Cheers in 1982, then took over the licence until 2010.

Among Captain Wilson's better-known horses were prolific winners under both codes, such as Twidale, Crofter's Cline, Profilic and Red Rosein – the latter giving him his greatest training success when capturing the Wokingham Handicap at Royal Ascot in 1992. Many of his winners were homebred, including future Champion Hurdle winner Punjabi, and he was a great admirer of that horse's sire Komaite, who became a significant sire, principally of all-weather winners.

Julie Bowker, mother of the current two-time champion apprentice Cieren Fallon, started her career with Captain Wilson, for whom she had her first rides in public.

Instantly recognisable as a sharp dresser with a well-trimmed beard, Captain Wilson could be quick to rise, but was always slow to bear a grudge. He possessed a cheerful disdain for pomposity, had an inventive mind and a sharp eye for business, and loved a deal.

He was the founder of Marlborough Horseboxes Manufacturing, still going strong today. His 'bread vans', as he described them, are now much copied, being 32-ton boxes, built for two horses on to a Renault chassis. He was also a director of Leisure Lakes.

He first saw his wife, Junette, on the stage in 1948 and pursued her relentlessly until they married in 1950. She died in 2015. They had three children, all of whom survive him – sons Alastair (an artist) and Hamish (a social worker) as well as Geraldine.