My late father was a fan of his style of consigning, identifying particular buyers for particular horses and marketing his stock to the right market.

He was realistic, knowing his horses and never pitching them to the wrong market. To that end he set high standards and he was one of the most successful vendors at the time. Twice he was the leading consignor of yearlings in Europe. Prior to that I was aware of him as the man from whom my dad bought a mare related to Deep Run for Waterloo House Stud.

Alan Lillington lived life to the full and he can have had few regrets. If he did, he did not dwell on them and his contribution to the industry has been immense and this was recognised by the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association in 2002 when he was given a lifetime achievement award. Almost six years ago I made a memorable visit to Mount Coote in Kilmallock to see Alan and his son Luke who had taken over the reins at the place, following a 50-year reign by Alan. It was equally clear that Alan was no back number.

In 1938 Mount Coote was purchased by Captain Luke Lillingston, Alan’s father, from the Greenall family. Master of the Meath in Ireland and the North Atherstone in England, tragically the Captain was killed in action in Normandy in 1944 while serving with the Leicestershire Yeomanry, while Alan’s mother, the widow of the Earl of Harrington, died in 1952. It was a further six years before the 23-year-old Alan took charge of the stud, which he had to build up again from scratch. He studied agriculture in Cambridge where he graduated.

Alan already had a CV of some note, riding his first winner at Tralee at the age of 13, and also getting some background training from his uncle Geoffrey Brooke, the noted trainer.

He had a distinguished career in the saddle, riding the one-eyed Winning Fair to victory in the 1963 Champion Hurdle for George Spencer, one of only three amateurs to do so. His last winner on the racecourse was the following year on Clarkestown for the same trainer. He was the champion amateur in Ireland.

Another horse that Alan is forever associated with is the great Flyingbolt and he rode him to his first success in a bumper at Navan for Tom Dreaper. Only Arkle has been rated a better steeplechaser. Sadly Alan’s career on the racecourse came to a premature end when he broke his neck in a fall in 1964.

Undeterred, he later switched codes and went on to enjoy a stellar career as an event rider, winning a team gold for Ireland at the 1979 European championships on Seven Up and gaining selection for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. On the latter occasion his mount Biddlecombe was injured two days before the event. He also won the supreme championship at Dublin and was a key figure in the introduction of the stallion tax exemption in Ireland.

As a breeder Alan enjoyed much success, with well in excess of 100 blacktype winners bred or raised at Mount Coote. There included the classic winning One In A Million, the champion sire Deep Run and Tamarisk, a champion sprinter.

Alan made a huge voluntary contribution too to racing and breeding and was Senior Steward of the National Hunt Committee, a steward of the Turf Club and he was a member of Bord Na gCapall (The Irish Horse Board). He played an important role in the establishment of the Irish National Hunt Pattern Committee. Alan Lillingston’s life was celebrated yesterday with a service of thanksgiving in the Saints Peter and Paul Church, Kilmallock where the family asked the congregation to refrain from wearing black ties.

They asked instead that donations be made to the Injured Jockeys Fund or the church restoration fund. A private cremation took place on Friday morning.

Alan is survived by his wife Lady Vivienne, his daughters Georgina and Sophie, sons Luke and Andrew and extended family. He died last Saturday after suffering a heart attack on a family holiday in his beloved Co Kerry, surrounded by his family.

L.P.