A distinguished jockey from a great racing family, Grassick also enjoyed a fine training career from Deer Park Stables close to Dublin’s Phoenix Park.

He is best remembered for training Godswalk to win the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot in 1976. Godswalk ended the season as the top rated two-year-old colt in Ireland and was sold to Robert Sangster. Vincent O’Brien trained the horse to win the 1977 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot and the horse became one of Coolmore’s first stallions.

Grassick also enjoyed success at the Cheltenham Festival when Noble Life claimed the 1972 Supreme Novices' Hurdle. Aintree winner Oisin Dubh was another flag-bearer for the Grassick yard.

He and wife Alice had eight children, including five sons who went on to make a mark in the racing and bloodstock. Brian was a successful bloodstock agent who died in 2009, Christy is manager of Coolmore Stud, Michael is a former trainer who is now chief executive of the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association, Ronan has his own horse transport company and Martin is assistant manager at Lady Bamford’s Daylesford Stud in Gloucestershire.

Brian’s daughter Sally Ann said of her grandfather: “He was a man who always set the highest standards for all of our family, both in his personal and professional life. He always had time for everyone and treated everybody as equals. The comments I have received today, from people in every part of the industry, is testament to that.

“Along with my dad, he made me proud to tell people I'm a Grassick. I was lucky to have been able to have two members of my family as my mentors. To many he was known as ‘Speedy’, but to us he was simply a wonderful husband, dad and grandad.”

The funeral mass is today (Saturday) at 11am in St Peter’s Church, Two-Mile-House, near Naas, Co Kildare, followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery.