'There was something mystical about the way she handled horses' - point-to-point legend dies at 87

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Sheila Crow, a legendary point-to-point trainer and part of a hugely successful racing dynasty, has died at the age of 87.

She enjoyed her greatest triumph when Cappa Bleu won the Foxhunter at Cheltenham in 2009, bounding up by 12 lengths on his first run in a chase.

That winner had joined professional trainer Evan Williams by the time he finished fourth and then second in the Grand National, but Crow had many other good horses in her Shropshire yard, including My Flora, who won the champion novice hunter chase at Stratford.

Her daughter Lucy and son Alastair both became champion point-to-point riders, and she lived long enough to see grandson Henry triumph at Cheltenham and Aintree on Barton Snow in the spring.

Henry Crow wins on Barton Snow at AintreeCredit: Grossick Photography (racingpost.com/photos)

Crow was from a family with numerous connections to horses. Niece Sarah is the mother of reigning champion trainer Dan Skelton and 2020-21 champion jockey Harry.

Among her brothers, Roy Edwards won the Champion Hurdle on Saucy Kit, Gordon rode more than 100 winners as an amateur and trained prolific point-to-pointer Scally Muire, while Charles bred showjumpers and had a son who competed for Britain in the Olympics.

Henry Crow said: “She was brilliant to me, a great help when I started riding and it was so good to have her to rely upon. You need that when you're young, someone to give you experience.

“Nanny was an incredible character and so tough. She was still riding racehorses at 80.”

Top amateur jockey Richard Burton rode Cappa Bleu, My Flora and many other winners for Crow, and is full of admiration for the trainer, whose husband Edward died in 2008. 

“She mothered me a bit, gave me counselling when I needed it and instilled confidence in me, but she had a tremendous drive and will to win,” he said. “She’d go to any length to be victorious.

“She’d say, ‘I’ve got three winners for you today' and she was normally right, but when things didn’t go to plan, she took defeat as well as she took victory. She was very good at that.

“There was something mystical about the way she handled horses. I feel very lucky to have known her.”

Funeral arrangements are yet to be announced.

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