THE funeral Mass for racehorse owner Dermot Cox takes place at 11am today (Saturday) in St Conleth’s Church, Newbridge, Co Kildare. He passed away peacefully in Blackrock Clinic on Tuesday, aged 76.

From Newbridge in Co Kildare, Dermot Cox was a shareholder in Naas Racecourse and was also very involved with Punchestown Racecourse where he sponsored races and was inducted into the racecourse Hall of Fame earlier in this year.

As an owner, he enjoyed Cheltenham Festival success with Back In Front and Ninetieth Minute. Back In Front, part-owned by Neilus Hayes, was trained by Edward O’Grady and won the 2003 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Ninetieth Minute was trained by Tom Taaffe to win the 2009 Coral Cup.

Cox also owned Tranquil Sea, winner of the 2009 Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham’s November meeting when trained by O’Grady. Takagi was another O’Grady-trained horse to carry the Cox colours to success in big races, such as the Troytown Chase and Bobbyjo Chase.

He bred horses at Rosetown Stud and the family involvement with racing has deepened through his son David who, with wife Tamso, runs one of the country’s leading sales consignment agencies at Baroda Stud in Newbridge.

Dermot Cantillon, chairman of Naas Racecourse, said: “Dermot was someone I always looked up to. He was a great influence and a leader, both locally and nationally, in sport and business. He was a very committed Kildare man. He owned Newbridge Greyhound Stadium, one of the leading lights at Punchestown and a significant shareholder at Naas.

“He and his late wife Ann were also tremendous hosts - you were always hoping you would get an invitation to their box at the races.”

Edward O’Grady described Cox as “a true country gentleman who loved his hunting, shooting and dog racing.” He added: “Dermot let me get on with the job but he was a man of high expectation so I knew where I was with him. We had many great days and of course Dermot was ‘Mr Punchestown’. He ran a fantastic box throughout the Festival there and entertained quite lavishly.”

Predeceased by his wife Ann, he is survived by children David, Louise, Aoife and Patrick.