Tommy Kinane, Champion Hurdle-winning rider of Monksfield and father of Mick, dies aged 90

Tommy Kinane, one of Irish racing's most revered diminutive giants and great patriarchs, has died at the age of 90. 

Father of legendary 13-time champion jockey Mick, Kinane himself enjoyed a wonderful career in the saddle as a jump jockey. 

His most famous triumph came when he guided the Des McDonogh-trained Monksfield to the first of his two Champion Hurdle victories at Cheltenham in 1978 when they beat Sea Pigeon and Night Nurse into second and third. 

Night Nurse had won the previous two Champion Hurdles and Sea Pigeon would win the two following Monksfield's triumphs. It remains one of the most exalted periods in the two-mile hurdling division and Kinane's association with Monksfield is fondly remembered, not least because it ended a 15-year drought in the race for Irish-trained horses.

It was one of three Cheltenham Festival winners he rode, the others coming on Kilcoleman in the 1977 County Hurdle and Stranfield in the 1979 Supreme Novices' Hurdle. 

McDonogh said: "It's very sad news. Tommy was a superb rider, a wonderful character, and a great man to have on your side. He played a major part in the Monksfield story and in our lives at that time. I'd been training for only a few years when Monksfield came along, and Tommy was invaluable to me. He rode him first in a handicap at Naas the month before the 1976 Triumph Hurdle and that's when the progression really started. 

"Tommy gave Monksfield a fantastic ride to beat Sea Pigeon in the Champion Hurdle in 1978, but the ride that really stands out for me was Stranfield in the Supreme Novices' the following year. Stranfield was a miler on the Flat and I wanted him held up for as long as possible to use his speed. He rode him to perfection."

Tommy Kinane and Monksfield win the 1978 Champion Hurdle ahead of Sea PigeonCredit: Mark Cranham

He added: "He was incredibly tough and determined as a jockey and always gave everything when he rode for you. When Peterhof beat Monksfield in the Triumph he did his level best to get the race in the stewards' room. He was so passionate.

"The other great memory I have is of him asking if Michael [Kinane] could ride Monksfield in an apprentice handicap at Naas. He was 16 and had ridden only a couple of winners. He beat a horse ridden by Tommy Carmody by a head. He won that race three years in a row for us. I've always been proud to have had that connection with a great racing family. 

"Tommy and I maintained our friendship all through the years, and I'll always remember our association with gratitude." 

Renowned as a tough and resilient rider, Kinane also possessed a tremendous wit, which he retained all the way through to his later years. 

Born in County Tipperary on October 3, 1933, Kinane's 13 siblings included two other well-known jump-jockeys who later became trainers, Danny and Christy.

Veteran trainer Ted Walsh joined the tributes and said: "Tommy had a great long life in racing. He lived his life to the full and took great pride in his family. He definitely enjoyed the bragging rights as a parent of one of the greatest jockeys of all time.

"He was still riding in his mid-40s at the time when Michael started as an apprentice and took great pride and pleasure from all his achievements, and rightly so."

Among Kinane's other big wins in the saddle were the Kerry National on Pearl Of Montreal (1973) and Irishman (1974), the Troytown Chase on Cottage King (1974), and the Thyestes Chase on Kintai (1978).

By the time of that Thyestes win, Kinane was in his 45th year, and he never lost the desire to live a full and active life. He retired from the saddle in 1980, by which time his son Mick had been crowned champion apprentice (1978) en route to establishing himself as one of the finest Flat jockeys in the history of the sport.

Kinane, whose wife Frances died in 2005, is survived by sons Thomas, Michael, Jayo and Paul, daughters Suzanne, Kathryn and Janette, and extended family. Removal on Tuesday to the Church of Our Lady and St David, Naas, arriving for 10am mass. Funeral immediately afterwards at Ardmayle Cemetery, County Tipperary, arriving at approximately 1pm. Family flowers only. Donations, if desired, to the Irish Cancer Society. 

House strictly private. Inquiries to Murphy Brothers Funeral Directors, Church Lane, Naas. Telephone 045 897397. The funeral mass can be viewed here.