DESMOND Stoneham, French racing correspondent for The Irish Field for 43 years, died suddenly on Sunday evening. He would have been 80 in July.

Born in England, he qualified as an accountant but racing was his passion. His first job in journalism was with The Irish Field in 1974 and he later joined the International Racing Bureau in Newmarket as their French racing expert.

Desmond arrived in France in 1975 and soon became a most popular figure on the Paris circuit. He covered French racing for The Sporting Life and, later, the Racing Post, Very sociable and entertaining, he was regularly called on for advice and information by Irish and British journalists, not just on racing but also on which restaurants to visit.

He married Evelyne and they had three daughters: Sophie, Lorna and Alexandra.

As his workload became heavier, Desmond employed a number of assistants in the IRB’s French office. Almost exclusively female, these assistants became known to all as “Desmond’s girls” and, having quickly built up a network of contacts, they invariably went on to secure jobs with French racing yards, stud farms or industry bodies.

Desmond had impeccable sources and regularly broke stories of bust-ups in French racing. It could be news of a leading owner taking their horses away from a top trainer, or reports of a champion jockey being sacked following a wild night in Deauville.

Marcus Armytage recalls an incident from 1986 when Desmond discovered that Pat Eddery would replace Greville Starkey on Dancing Brave in the upcoming Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. After the scoop had gone to print, Desmond cooly remarked: “Do you know, I’ve just had Terry Ellis (Pat Eddery’s brother-in-law and agent) on the phone. He tells me that if we print that story he’ll have my balls on toast. I replied that not only had I filed the story, I was currently half-way through my entrecote et frites and a bottle of Petrus.”

Tellingly, Ellis was one of the first to pay tribute to Desmond this week.

Earlier that same year (1986) Desmond covered the fatal fall of Dawn Run in the French Champion Hurdle at Auteuil, a day he described as the worst in his professional career. It was a time when there were no live racing pictures and reliable information was scarce. There were rumours that Dawn Run’s remains had been taken to a meat factory, a falsehood which Desmond was well-placed to dismiss. He was a friend of the Mullins family and put in a call to to Maureen Mullins at home a few days later. Mrs Mullins was still in tears. “I’m miserable at the moment,” she said, “because I’ve just walked past Dawn Run’s empty box again.”

In 2013, Desmond was presented with the Order of Agricultural Merit in recognition of his services to the French thoroughbred industry. He retired as The Irish Field’s correspondent at the end of the 2017 season and the following spring he was presented with the traditional mocked-up front page of The Irish Field, celebrating his contribution to the paper.

TWITTER TRIBUTES

Geoff Lester @geofflester

So sad to read of the passing of Desmond Stoneham. He was always so helpful to the UK press, not only on the racecourse, but whenever we were at a loose end in Paris he would mark our card as the restaurants and bars to go to - and those to avoid! The ultimate professional. RIP.

Eamon Dunphy @Dunphy_Official

A wonderful man, a great racing journalist, so sad to hear of Desmond Stoneham’s passing.

Pirate Irwin @pirateirwin

Paying homage to Desmond Stoneham who has died aged 79. A great man who did wonders for French racing keeping it prominent to an international audience whilst domestically it disappeared from the priority list of things to do. Witty Bon viveur & kindest man one could meet. RIP.