Leading official Patrick Hibbert-Foy dies aged 76 after long battle with cancer

Patrick Hibbert-Foy, the former senior stewards' secretary who advised the stewards' panel at Aintree to void the 1993 Grand National, has died after a long battle with cancer. He was 76.

A former Captain in the 9th/12th Royal Lancers, Hibbert-Foy took up his first job as an assistant starter in 1971 before joining the rota of stewards' secretaries eight years later.

He became senior stewards' secretary in April 1994, a position he held until 2002, before becoming a racecourse steward and also a member of the BHA disciplinary panel from 2005 until 2012.

Hibbert-Foy advised the panel of racecourse officials on all major occasions, including 50 Classics, and officiated at the 1993 Grand National, when the start was disrupted by animal rights activists and was subjected to two false starts with the recall system failing on the second occasion.

"Having served as a starter for many years, I was fully conversant with the rules," he told the Racing Post in 2003.

"Immediately I saw the video replay I knew there was no other option than to advise the panel to void the race. I was aware of the responsibility – there was close to £60 million riding on the race."

More recently, Hibbert-Foy was a board member at Thirsk, joining the board in 2013 and serving as chairman for four years.

Thirsk's manager and clerk of the course James Sanderson said: "One thing about Patrick was that he played everything off an incredibly straight bat and by the rules. There was no fudging anything.

"As a board member he was brilliant – very, very focused. He was very capable of grasping an issue and understanding it.

"He will be missed – he was held in very high regard by everyone at Thirsk."

The funeral will take place at St Mary's Church, Masham, North Yorkshire, on Monday, September 23 at 2pm. Family flowers only but donations in lieu may be made to the Injured Jockeys Fund and World Horse Welfare.