‘LEGEND’ horse trainer Eric Wheeler has sadly died aged 85.
Devastated pals and jockeys he brought through the ranks remembered a ‘master’ trainer famed for his ‘serious bo*****ings’.
‘Master’ horse trainer Wheeler has sadly died aged 85
Wheeler sent out his first winner in 1986 and celebrated about 150 in all as a trainer.
Many of his runners went onto become huge fan favourites including Dancing Mystery.
The 5f specialist raced a simply mind-boggling 198 times and won 25 races in all, pocketing connections just shy of £275,000.
He was runner-up in a Group 2 and punters followed him wherever he went, from Dubai to Lingfield.
Some more of his tip horses included 1992 Great St Wilfrid winner Green Dollar, plus Absolute Fantasy and Dark Menace.
Alan Daly was one of the up-and-coming riders generous Wheeler was more than happy to give a shot in the saddle.
Remembering his former boss, he told the Racing Post: “It’s very sad news. He was a legend and he got me going in racing.
“Without Eric I probably wouldn’t even have become a jockey.
“I was at Paul Cole’s and he put me in contact with Bill Turner to get me going and I rode over 20 winners for Eric.
“He helped me with all the basics, like sorting out all my tax affairs, which you don’t really know you have to do when you’re starting out.
“He set me on the path to becoming a successful jockey.
“Eric was very passionate about his racing, he loved it.
“He’d give you a serious bo*****ing if you got things wrong then five minutes later it was forgotten.”
Wheeler’s last winner was Malih at Brighton in June 2015 while his best season was 1999 when he recorded 16 winners.
