The night Denys got a good return on his steaks

I was saddened to read of the death of Denys Smith. As a very young trainer in the early 1960s I had considerable dealings with Denys and he was extremely helpful to me. He was a fascinating guy with a tremendous sense of humour.

My first experience of his humour was when I drove from Burford to Barnard Castle with my late brother-in-law David Horton to see some horses. Before driving back, Denys’s wife very kindly put up supper, where we were in the company of half a dozen of his owners.

Unfortunately the steak was extremely tough and there was an embarrassing silence. This was broken by Denys, who announced in a loud voice in his inimitable accent: “One thing about this steak – it’s right tasty.” This completely broke the silence and a great evening was had.