IT was with much sadness that we learned of the death on Monday of Tommy Wade, a man whose name was synonymous with show jumping in this country and with the great Dundrum.

The career of the Tipperary man as a rider and then as a chef d’equipe to the Irish team is well-covered in the Irish Horse World section but here we remember him as an astute trainer of point-to-point horses.

Michael Phillips of GAIN Equine Nutrition rode for Wade’s Goold’s Cross yard for 10 years and said of his late friend and mentor: “He was a very tough, very fair man and a great loser.

“He was a great judge of a horse and started many successful horses off in their racing careers.

“There’s nothing about the training of horses that people think they are just discovering now that Tommy Wade didn’t know about years ago.”

Phillips, who was senior champion rider in 1994 and 1995, recalled some of the great horses to have passed through Wade’s hands such as West Tip, Von Trappe, Dark Ivy, Large Action and Moscow Express.

And in more recent years, Pandorama, Shutthefrontdoor and Brindisi Breeze.

Among the owners at Wade’s Gatterstown yard during his heyday as a trainer were bookmaker Seamus Mulvaney and the late Terry Ryan.

The Irish Field would like to extend its sympathy to Tommy’s wife Flick (Felicity), daughter Maria and sons Robert, Alan and Ronan.