Pipe Reaches The End Of The Line

Martin Pipe, champion trainer 15 times, stunned the racing world today when declaring he was handing over the reins to his son David with immediate effect.

The master of Nicholashayne, who has dominated National Hunt scene for almost 20 years, has not been in the best of health of late and announced his decision on the Channel 4 programme The Morning Line.

It was no secret that his son was due to take over at his father's Devon base but that was not expected to be for at least another season.

However, Pipe has decided this was the right time to stand down and the career of true racing great has come to an end.

'I've not been in the best of health lately and I've taken the decision that it's time for David to take over,' said Pipe.

'I'd like to be remembered for training horses who tried their best. I got a great thrill out of getting horses to enjoy their racing and getting them to try their best.

'I suppose I just tried to get the horses fitter than any other trainer and hopefully David can continue that.

'I feel sure that that will happen. He is ambitious and energetic and things will continue to go the same way hopefully.'

Pipe expanded on his decision on his website, www.martinpipe.co.uk.

He said: 'I have made the decision to hand the reins over to David after one or two health problems and not getting around as well as I would like to and feel now is the appropriate time for David to take over.

'David is young, enthusiastic, energetic and extremely ambitious and we are all excited about the future.

'David holds a great CV having ridden winners and even ridden around the Grand National course, trained hundreds of point-to-point winners and spent time with Michael Dickinson in America and Madame Criquette Head in France and ably assisted me for a long time.

'All of my owners know David well and I feel sure that they will continue to offer David their valuable and much appreciated support as they have given to me over many years.'

But Pipe will not be disappearing from the racing scene.

'I'll still be around the yard and still have the everyday involvement. We have a terrific family of staff that will be here and the horses are the children. It's tending and caring for those everyday,' he told Sky Sport News.

'I've had some lovely calls and faxes. It's really great and touching to hear from everyone.'

David Pipe paid tribute to his father.

'The management of his horses and his attention to detail has been fantastic. It is the next chapter in my life and I am looking forward to it,' said.

Tony McCoy, who became champion jockey and never looked back after becoming number one to Pipe, was a guest on The Morning Line and admitted he was on the verge of tears on hearing the news.

'It's very sad. It's probably one of the very few times on television I could actually feel like crying,' he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

'I've known for a little while that his health hasn't been great. I think it's one of the very few things that has frightened him. I imagine he felt the time was right to retire.

'I think only he could have managed to beat Paul Nicholls for the last three years because in recent years he has had as many horses as he had in the past and as many good horses.

'It's made it that bit tougher for him but his health he feels is one thing that is more important.

'David is very lucky he is taking over from his father and that he has his dad to ask for his advice. Who else can start off as a trainer and having Martin Pipe as his assistant?

'His attention to detail has been fantastic. He revolutionised training racehorses. He put so much input into the horses' health to make sure they were so healthy and so fit that the recovery rate of his horses was so good.

'They were exercising after their races which I felt was one of the things that was probably better than anyone else's. Every trainer that has been trying to compete with him over the last five or six years has basically had to do it his way.

'I've known for a fact the only way to be able to keep up with Martin Pipe has been to copy him and to do that everybody has basically accepted the fact that he's done it better than anybody else and the record book suggests that too.'

Paul Nicholls, who has taken Pipe's crown as champion trainer, said: 'I'm surprised but I'm not surprised. I suppose it is a good time to hand over and David obviously knows what he is doing. It's the end of a era and that is sad.

'It's obviously brilliant what he has done but the game won't be any different tomorrow. It will still be as competitive as ever if not more so. You wait and see.'

? PA Sport