Jimmy FitzGerald, trainer of 1985 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Forgive'N Forget, has died today, aged 69. FitzGerald passed away in hospital this afternoon following a long illness.
Having enjoyed a successful career as a jump jockey, FitzGerald sent out a host of big-race winners from his training base at Malton in England.
Born in 1935, appropriately in the village of Horse And Jockey in Co Tipperary, FitzGerald was a trainer of the old school.
After 33 years with a licence and about 1,200 winners, he handed over the reins of his Norton Grand stables to his son Tim at the end of February 2003.
There was never much doubt which career 'Jimmy Fitz' would choose and he started at the bottom, working as a stable lad, in which capacity he led up 1955 Scottish National winner Bar Point at the now-defunct Bogside racecourse.
It marked the beginning of a successful association with the race, as 10 years later, he won it as a jockey aboard Brasher - a horse he described as the easiest in the world to ride - for trainer Tommy Robson.
Brasher was one of 123 winners FitzGerald had during a decade in the saddle, until his career was cut short by a fractured skull sustained in a fall in 1966.
He then set his sights on training, and turned Norton Grange Farm in Malton into one of the strongest jumps operations in Britain, after helping to build many of the boxes himself. He was granted a training licence in 1969 and scored with only his second horse, Archer, at Market Rasen on August 2nd of that year.
A glittering training career ensued, with over 1,200 winners to his name over jumps and on the Flat from a yard that became one of the most powerful in Britain during the 1980s.
Forgive'N Forget's triumph in the 1985 Cheltenham Gold Cup undoubtedly provided FitzGerald with the biggest success of his career.
Ridden by Mark Dwyer, the horse had previously landed a huge gamble when winning the Coral Golden Handicap Hurdle at the Festival in 1983. Sent off a heavily-backed 5-2 favourite for the chasing showpiece two seasons later, the eight-year-old just got the better of Righthand Man.
It was revealed later that the winning trophy was used by the FitzGerald clan at daughter Kirsty's christening.
Forgive'N Forget was third behind Dawn Run in the Gold Cup the following year, and his death in the 1988 renewal was described by FitzGerald as the lowest point of his career.
Other Festival winners included Danish Flight, Uncle Ernie and Canny Danny.
FitzGerald also won a Hennessy Gold Cup with Galway Blaze and back-to back Scottish Nationals with Androma in 1984 and 1985, thus becoming only the second man to have ridden and trained a winner of the great race.