DAVID Powell, consummate horseman, passed away peacefully last Sunday after a long illness, robbing the French racing and breeding empire of a revered and respected friend. He was 73.

Born in Argentina to an American diplomat father and a German mother, David went to school at the age of 10 in Paris and spent his teenage years in Germany, during which time he forged a lifetime friendship with André Fabre. After studying in New York, he relocated to France in the 1970s and purchased Haras du Lieu des Champs near Lisieux in 1980.