TRIBUTES have been paid to Grade 1-winning trainer and popular horseman Andy Lynch after his death at the age of 76 this week.

One of Lynch’s biggest supporters Chris Jones, who enjoyed top-level success with the trainer when Zabana struck at the 2016 Punchestown Festival, described the Dunshauglin, Co Meath native as “an extraordinary person” with an immense passion for horses and his family.

Lynch previously spent more than 20 years at Noel Meade’s Tu Va Stables, where he served as head lad, while he was also whipper-in with the Ward Union Hunt after joining the group in 1964. He successfully competed at show jumping in the RDS and was involved in local GAA groups as a player, chairman and selector.

Predeceased in 2007 by his wife, May, Lynch died peacefully at his home surrounded by family having battled cancer for a number of years.

Jones told The Irish Field: “He was a huge part of our lives. I built a gallop in 2008 on the condition that he would come and work with us, and thankfully that’s what he did. He had left Noel’s at that stage and was a neighbour of mine. I first met him on the hunting field as he and his wife May kept my hunters.

“Zabana was a game changer for us all as a Grade 1 winner, but I think Andy was a typical Irishman in terms of having a closeness to the horse. He had an understanding of what made them work, was a great man for feeding horses and an extraordinary person when it came to having an awareness of their wellbeing.

“As I summed him up to someone recently, Andy’s true loves were hunting, horses and his family. I was with him on Wednesday after we galloped some horses he trained for us in Skryne. My son Andrew rode one with [Lynch’s grandnephew and leading jockey] Keith Donoghue and I told Andrew we’d call down to the house to let him know how we’d got on. He was just an amazing person and a massive part of our family.”

Donoghue added: “He was a great man. He was always very good to me and I started riding racehorses through when he had point-to-pointers. We always kept our ponies with him and he was a big influence on us. He was a natural horseman who always turned out his horses very well.”

Lynch’s funeral mass will take place on Saturday at 2pm in the Church of the Assumption, Dunsany followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery. Flowers or donations are welcome, while those who would prefer donations are asked to consider Meath Palliative Care services.