Ian Balding, who trained the brilliant Mill Reef to win the Derby and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 1971 and later saddled the hugely popular sprinter Lochsong to a series of big-race victories, has died at the age of 87, his family said in a statement on Friday.
“We are deeply sorry to share the sad news that Ian Balding has passed away,” they said on the Instagram page for their Park House Stables. “A wonderful family man, a hugely successful racehorse trainer and a brilliant sportsman. He will be greatly missed by all at Park House.”
Balding was just 26 when he took over the licence to train at the historic yard, near Kingsclere in Berkshire, in 1964 after the death of his father-in-law, Peter Hastings-Bass. Widely seen as one of the finest training establishments in the country, it had previously been the base for John Porter, perhaps the greatest trainer of the Victorian era, who sent out three triple crown winners between 1886 and 1899, and Balding was soon adding to the roll of honour, with Royal Ascot winners in 1964 and 1965.
At the time, he was already a successful amateur rider over jumps, with victories including a win aboard Time in the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham festival in 1963, and he established himself among the Flat-racing elite when Mill Reef emerged as a leading two-year-old in 1969.
Wolverhampton 4.00 Eye Of The Water 4.30 The Gay Blade 5.00 Catherine Chroi 5.30 Alba Gu Brath 6.00 New Bay Star 6.30 Mollie Foster 7.00 Chilliconcarneigh (nb) 7.30 Far Too Fizzy 8.00 Auntie Jo (nap)
Mill Reef took the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Gimcrack at York and the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket, the season’s top juvenile event, in his two-year-old season. His first big-race assignment at three was the 1970 2,000 Guineas, in one of the strongest fields ever assembled for a British Classic, with the legendary miler Brigadier Gerard and France’s top two-year-old, My Swallow, also in opposition.
Mill Reef finished second behind Brigadier Gerard but went on to win the Derby, the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and then the Arc, Europe’s showpiece middle-distance event, at Longchamp in Paris. He was only the second Derby winner, after Sea-Bird II in 1965, to win the Derby and Arc in the same season, and remains one of just seven colts to complete the double.
Mill Reef’s exploits ensured that Balding ended the season as the champion trainer on the Flat but the colt’s racing career was ended by a broken leg, sustained during a routine gallop, in August 1972, although he was saved to stand as a stallion at the National Stud.
Subsequent outstanding performers on the track from Balding’s yard included Glint Of Gold, the winner of six Group One races, a top-class miler in Selkirk, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner in 1991, and the brilliant filly Lochsong, the champion sprinter in 1993 and 1994.
Lochsong completed a treble in major sprint handicaps including the Stewards’ Cup and the Ayr Gold Cup in 1992 and went on to win the Nunthorpe Stakes at York in 1993 and the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp in 1993 and 1994.
Balding was one of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s principal trainers for many years, winning the Musidora Stakes at York with Escorial and also saddling Insular to win the Queen Mother’s Cup at the same track in 1988, with her daughter, the Princess Royal, in the saddle.
Wolverhampton 1.15 Snaafy 1.45 Sovereign Wealth 2.15 Midnight Call (nb) 2.45 Beauzon 3.15 Magic Stone (nap) 3.45 Grabajabba 4.15 Bashful Boy 4.45 First Greyed 5.15 Equion
Southwell 4.30 Jeans Maite 5.00 Knight Of Magic 5.30 Highfield Comrade 6.00 Romantic Spirit 6.30 Charlatan 7.00 Saved Lizzie 7.30 Elusive Butterfly 8.00 Dartrey 8.30 Holbache
Balding returned to his roots in the winter code when Crystal Spirit took the two-and-a-half-mile novice hurdle at the 1991 Cheltenham festival, and he also rode Ross Poldark, a horse that he owned, over the Grand National fences at Aintree in the Foxhunter Chase in 1985.
Balding’s father, Gerald, and elder brother, Toby, were also successful trainers, and his son, Andrew, has maintained his father’s record of consistent big-race successes with multiple Classic and Group One wins since taking over the licence at Park House in 2002.
His daughter, Clare, was also a fine amateur jockey before embarking on a hugely successful broadcasting career. She paid tribute on Friday, posting on social media: “My Dad was one of a kind. Fearless, funny and charming he was an all-round sportsman, a great trainer and a beautiful horseman.
“He loved his dogs, his horses and his family - probably in that order. He shared with me his passion for sport and taught me to be brave enough to chase a dream, even if it seemed impossible. We’ll miss him so much.”
