Racing mourns Patsy Byrne Tributes have been coming in from throughout the racing world after news of the death of Patsy Byrne. Byrne was an admired figure around the greyhound and horseracing circuit and his pink and blue colours were carried to victory only recently by White Star Line in the Kerry National at Listowel, while he won this season's Northumberland Plate at Newcastle with the Jonjo O'Neill-trained Tominator. He founded the Byrne Group firm, which has been involved in the construction of buildings such as the Olympic Stadium, the Emirates Stadium, Stamford Bridge and the new Centre and Number One Court at Wimbledon, in 1969 with his brother Johnny. An enthusiast of all Irish sports, he was involved with top dogs like Cool Performance and Ballinderry Ash, as well as enjoying major success on the coursing scene. Dessie Hughes, who trains White Star Line, said: "I can't believe it. It's totally out of the blue. As far as I know he got out of bed and collapsed. He was a great character and was at Listowel to see White Star Line win the Kerry National a couple of weeks ago, which was fantastic for him. "He was a great man who loved his horses and his dogs and anything to do with sport really. He'll leave an enormous gap for everybody that had anything to do with him." Jockey Wayne Lordan remembered a good association he struck up with the Byrne-owned Tolpuddle back in 2004, saying: "It's very sad news to hear and my thoughts are with his family. "Tolpuddle won the Irish Lincolnshire and I won a couple of Listed races on him. Patsy was a true gentleman. He loved his racing and he loved his dogs." Tony McCoy tweeted: "Sad news about Patsy Byrne, a great man & friend,big loss 2 the racing and greyhound world, thoughts with his wife Bridget & family"
