Lambourn in mourning after death of Walwyn groom

The Lambourn racing community has been saddened by the news that one of its longest-serving stable grooms, Peter Payne, has died at the age of 88.

Payne first came to Lambourn as a 13-year-old from Grimsby and joined Ossie Bell as an apprentice, but he was to spend much of his working life with legendary jumps trainer Fulke Walwyn.

During an association of some 35 years with Saxon House, he took a number of the stable's high-class performers into his care, most notably Ten Plus. He numbered the Sun Alliance Hurdle at the 1986 Cheltenham Festival among his victories before that horse's fatal fall when leading over the third last in the Gold Cup three years later.