'A wonderful man to own horses' - Sandy Struthers remembered after death at 91

Sandy Struthers, the successful owner who became the father of racing's education and training programmes, has died at the age of 91.

He came close to Classic glory with Derby third Mount Athos and Oaks runner-up Bonnie Isle, three decades after falling in love with racing as a schoolboy at Stowe about which he later recalled: "I had a gift for remembering the breeding and pedigree of racehorses. I think I could have told you the name of every horse in training in 1944."

A Scot who ran the Glasgow-registered shipping company which had been founded by his great-grandfather in 1860, while studying at Cambridge he often drove to Newmarket to watch the gallops and he had the first winner in his own colours when Ratcatcher scored at Musselburgh in 1961.

His best horses were trained by John Dunlop, who prepared Mount Athos to finish third behind Sir Ivor at Epsom in 1968 and win the Princess of Wales's Stakes and Gordon Stakes.

Other stars he owned included Eclipse Stakes winner Scottish Rifle and Pitcairn, who took the Hungerford and Goodwood Mile and went on to be champion sire.

Struthers was godfather to Dunlop's son Harry, who recalled: "He and my father were great friends, they kept in touch even after he no longer had horses, and he was very good to me over the years. He was very much an enthusiast for racing."

Harry Dunlop: 'He was very much an enthusiast for racing'

Sir Thomas Pilkington, a fellow Jockey Club member, said: "He was a great friend, a marvellous man and a wonderful person to own horses, he treated good luck and bad luck with equanimity."

Having been a steward at Hamilton and Newmarket, Struthers was elected to the Jockey Club in 1981 and served as deputy senior steward from 1991 to 1993.

He chaired a working party to identify the future training requirements of the industry and his report recommended tapping into government funding – that became the initial model for today's training and education schemes run under the auspices of the BHA.

The Struthers Report also confirmed the requirement for two schools and in recognition he was made a life president of what is now the National Horseracing College in Doncaster.

He worked with future BHB racing director Paul Greeves, who said: "He was a delightful man. I worked closely with him and I was very fortunate to do so.

"Sandy was the first head, and the inspiration, of the industry's programme of education and training. He was hugely committed to developing it, from scratch of course. I worked with him as one of the senior executives delivering it and he was kind and supportive, but he still required you to deliver – he was focused on getting the job done."

Greeves added: "He was one of life's gentlemen. We will miss him, definitely."

Struthers' wife Libby predeceased him, but he is survived by daughters Stephanie, Annabelle and Lorna.