Times racing reporter Alan Lee dies Highly respected racing correspondent Alan Lee has died at the age of 61. Lee had been The Times' racing reporter since 1999 but had previously been an esteemed cricket writer. An owner and part-owner of several National Hunt winners, Lee began his career at the Watford Observer in 1970 and was also employed by Hayters Agency and the Mail On Sunday, for whom he was cricket correspondent between 1982-87. BBC racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght said: "On the coldest and most uninspiring of days, he'd sit down and tap away those golden words that would then appear in The Times the next day. "He was a huge fan of racing but he was absolutely passionate about jumps racing. "He lived in Cheltenham and loved not only being at Cheltenham and Aintree, but also all the real jumping places like Ludlow, Perth and Sedgefield. "He was also a fanatical Arsenal supporter and could often be found in the press room with a little radio, listening to how his side were getting on. "He had a heart operation in early November. There were initial complications but nothing to panic about. "We all saw him at Cheltenham a week on Friday and then he was at Ascot two days ago. "He was in positive form, and he had every right to be in positive form, so we were all left shattered by the news. "He was just the most brilliant and most natural writer." Lee was a regular visitor to some of Ireland's top race-meetings.
