LIAM Browne, the former classic-winning trainer, died peacefully last weekend. He turned 89 this month.

As a jockey, he was champion apprentice three times in the 1950s and was based with Paddy ‘Darkie’ Prendergast. As first jockey to trainer Mick Rogers, he rode the winners of the Tetrarch, Gallinule and Pretty Polly Stakes and he also rode as second jockey for Vincent O’Brien for a season.

After a spell working outside of racing in Britain, he returned to the Curragh and took out a trainer’s licence in 1971. Based at Maddenstown Lodge, his string gradually increased and he had his first big breakthrough in 1978 when Mr Kildare won the Sun Alliance Hurdle at Cheltenham. Two years later he trained Slaney Idol to win the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and in 1982 the Browne-trained Dara Monarch, ridden by Michael Kinane, won both the Irish 2000 Guineas and the St James’s Palace Stakes.

Dara Monarch was a 5,000gns purchase and another of Browne’s inexpensive buys was Carlingford Castle who cost 7,500 guineas and was sold for £660,000 after finishing second to Teenoso in the 1983 Epsom Derby.

In more recent years, his best horses included the 2003 Saval Beg Staks winner Queen Astrid and 1999 Irish Lincolnshire winner Wray.

Apprentice academy

The Browne academy also produced a long line of top class jockeys, headed by Kinane. Others to have learned their trade through his yard included Jamie Spencer, Tommy Carmody, Stephen Craine, Mark Dwyer, Michael Fenton, David Parnell, Warren O’Connor and Pat Gilson.

In an interview with Michael Clower towards the end of his career, Browne described his ‘tough love’ policy when coaching apprentices: “I gave them plenty of stick but not once did I ever hit any of them. I would watch them when they were riding and whenever they rode a bad race I would give out to them, often on the drive home. I would keep harping on at them, and it made them.

“I felt I was a bit like Sir Alex Ferguson. He has one of the most difficult jobs of all because he is training millionaires and he has to have control over them. If they don’t behave he puts them on the bench for three or four matches. That was what I did. I would stand them down, bring them back to earth.”

In total Browne trained close to 800 winners in his career, including 58 in group and listed races before retiring in 2004. In 2011 he received a Lifetime in Racing Award at the Curragh.

Kinane memories

Among the mourners at his funeral Mass on Monday was Michael Kinane. He said: “Liam took a huge interest in the development of his apprentices, both in terms of their riding and their behaviour off the horse. He could be a tough taskmaster but I wouldn’t change it.

“He would discipline you alright if it was warranted, be it through your wages or your free time. You knew not to cross the line a second time. Although he had a stern expression, he had a good sense of humour too.

“Liam was also a great judge of a horse. He bought a lot of cheap ones who turned out to be very good.

“I kept in touch with him. Three years ago, my late father [Tommy] and I went with Peter Doyle to see him in Athy.”

Peter Doyle recalled: “Liam looked great when we visited. His memory was a little hazy at first but he soon recognised us and we spent a lovely hour with him. Patrick Cooper sent Liam horses owned by Mrs Patino. I was speaking to Patrick earlier about Liam – all happy memories.

“The very first horse I bought – it might have been in 1979 – was for a friend of mine in Wicklow. He asked me to find him a trainer, so I asked Liam to take it. The following year we bought Dara Monarch as a yearling. The year after that (1981) we bought a four-year-old at the horses in training sales named Uncle Dick. Mick Kinane rode it to win the 1982 Irish Lincoln a couple of months before Dara Monarch won the Irish 2000 Guineas and the St James’s Palace Stakes.

“In those days Liam would send a draft of fillies to the December Sales in Newmarket and everyone would be waiting to see them. These would be fillies he had sent out to win and get blacktype, and he would have them turned out beautifully.”

High standards

Luke Lillingston agreed: “I remember the red rugs marked LB and the horses looked immaculate. His yard was the same. Liam set a very high standard.

“My late father [Alan] became a Liam Browne fan very quickly. He sent Liam horses who he couldn’t sell at the sales, so not the cream of the crop by any means.

“In particular there was a Persian Bold filly who was very small and behaved appallingly at the sales. My father couldn’t get the minimum bid for her. He brought her home, struggled to break her in and named her Impudent Miss.

“When Liam got her on to the racecourse she put her head down and she won. She was as tough as old boots and she won the Silken Glider at Leopardstown by a short-head with Steve Cauthen riding her. That was a very special day.

“There was another horse named Without Reserve who my father couldn’t sell. Before his first race at the Curragh, Liam said to my father: ‘I don’t know what Vincent’s is like but we’re going to give it a good race.’ We finished second or third that day, and the winner was El Gran Senor.

“The point I wish to make, and I make it on behalf of my father, is that Liam had an outstanding ability to assess horses at an early stage of their career and he was rarely wrong. I know he had a reputation for being tough but he could be fun to be with. He had a sense of humour alright.”

Predeceased by his wife Anne, he is survived by five children including his son Martin who was a champion apprentice and also trained on the Curragh.

Another son Dermot was a dual champion amateur in Britain. Two of his grandchildren, Max and Liam, have also had success as jockeys.