I NEVER met Mick O’Toole in anything but good form. Into his eighties he still had an air of mischief about him, a smile to brighten your day, and was always immaculately turned out.

Mick has been a part of the landscape of my whole life, and he continued to enjoy his racing since he ‘retired’ from active participation. Of course he never retired, being well known to every generation of racegoer up to the present day. He was also of the old school, a man who knew everyone in the game – from carpark attendants to the leaders in our industry. He treated them all equally.