Iron man Joe Guest dies aged 85

Former jump jockey Joe Guest, uncle of trainers Rae and Richard and one of the most fearless riders of the southern jumps circuit in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, has died aged 85.

Guest won the 1960 Mildmay of Flete on Devon Customer and rode outsider Heath Song to inflict a surprise defeat on Tingle Creek at Ascot in 1972, but he forged his reputation around tracks like Fontwell and Plumpton, where his never-say-die attitude won him a following over 26 seasons in the saddle.

He rode around 300 winners, 17 of them on Flosuebarb, trained in Sussex by John Hooton, whom he also rode in the Grand National. He was forced to retire in April 1979 after breaking his leg in a fall at Worcester, the pain from which still troubled him in old age. He died at home in Liphook, Hampshire, on Saturday.