A LEGENDARY jockey dubbed ‘racing’s Mr Nice Guy’ has died of cancer aged 82 – plunging the sport into mourning.
Bruce Raymond, who later became racing manager to some mega names, was runner-up in the 1993 Derby on 150-1 outsider Blue Judge.
He won the Haydock Sprint Cup three times as well as the July Cup, the Nunthorpe, Ayr Gold Cup and 1985 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot aboard Bob Back.
All in all he won around 2,000 races in a 30-year career in the saddle – but famously never managed to win one of the five Classics, going down as arguably the best ever to fail to land one.
After he retired in 1994 aged 51 he became a key cog in the machine of top level racing, being manager to the likes of Sheikh Maktoum Al Maktoum, Saeed Suhail and Jaber Abdullah.
Raymond was in the winner’s enclosure on Derby day just three years ago when Suhail’s late Desert Crown won the world’s most prestigious race.
Those same blue and yellow silks so synonymous with Raymond were victorious at York just yesterday when Never So Brave won the Group 1 City Of York Stakes.
Former jockey Philip Robinson, who became Raymond’s assistant, said he was like a ‘second father’ to him and many others.
He said: “He’s going to leave a big, big hole in my heart and also in the heart of plenty of people in racing.
“He was racing’s Mr Nice Guy and I don’t know anyone with a bad word to say about him.
“He’s sort of been like a second father to me ever since my father died.
“He was close to my father and has been a very close friend of mine and a great work colleague.
“He was someone who could find something funny in even the worst things and he could cheer up the day no matter what the circumstances, he was a joy to work with.
“He was a people person and a joy to be around. He could make you smile, even on the saddest of occasions.
“No matter what pain he was in he still found something to laugh about and was still coming into the office up until three weeks ago as he was a real people person and everyone loved him.”
Speaking of the poignant timing of Never So Brave’s victory, Robinson added: “I was sad in a way because I knew he would have been so happy had he been OK to watch Never So Brave, it would have been massive for him.
“I was sad driving home from York thinking Bruce had probably missed this and I know exactly what he would have been like had he been watching.
“He had many great days in the job and I know how much enjoyment he got when Desert Crown won the Derby, that was a massive great lift for him.”
Hugh Anderson, managing director of Godolphin, said: “Bruce was a great friend to me and all of us at Godolphin.
“He was such a fine man, brimming with charisma and charm, it’s hard to believe he has gone after such a long, brave, fight against cancer.
“We will miss his wit and wisdom, enhanced by an endless supply of wonderful stories about the sport he loved.
“He was unswervingly loyal to his many contacts in Dubai and worked until the very end, never giving in and always finding humour in every situation.
“Our deepest condolences to Jenny and Martin and the rest of his family and friends.”
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