I have been friends with Kevin for almost 50 years.

A thorough gentleman with a great sense of humour, we never had a cross word between us. In my early days, I asked him for advice and he never held anything back.

He didn’t have it easy himself starting out. He built up his own place, nothing was handed to him. The thing that made him stand out was his work ethic. He was an early riser, lived for his horses and he was a great judge, which he learned at his father’s knee.

We had a keen rivalry. After he had a winner one day I said to him ‘Well done, you’re the best on the Curragh.’ He shot back: ‘Would you not go a bit further?’

If he saw one of my two-year-olds being backed into favourite he would come over to me, wait until the horse was passing us both, raise his hand above his forehead and say ‘Is he not a bit big?’

Our yard finished second to his many times in the best turned out stakes. And Kevin turned himself and his staff out as well as he turned out his horses.

And of course he had a great record with his apprentices. Charlie Swan and Kieren Fallon started with him. He wasn’t happy when Kieren was beaten by Kevin Manning for the apprentice title by a single winner, I think.

He followed his jockeys for all their careers. He was particularly fond of Brian Hughes. When Kevin and I would sit down together to watch Cheltenham, Kevin would switch over to see Brian ride in the north of England.

Kevin won eight classics and he very nearly won the Epsom Derby.

But above all that he was a great family man. He and Lesley were an outstanding couple for many years, and he was very proud of his daughters and adored his grandchildren. We will all miss him very much.

I have wonderful memories of Kevin. We had some great horses together in what was a great time to work with him.

He was a tough man but very fair and absolutely loyal. As soon as you hopped off a horse, you’d know where you stood with him immediately. You didn’t need to be a mindreader with Kevin. Now, I probably came to him a little wet behind the ears - but he soon knocked it out of me. You learned a lot from being around him and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think Kevin made me champion jockey, really. That year [2006], I rode 50-odd winners for him, and that was a big help in winning the title. He was a great supporter all along. Even when I went to John Oxx’s after being with him, he’d always look for me if I could ride one. He’d never pass you.

I only spoke to him last week on the phone. We had a great chat. He was actually saying for me to call out to him for a chat on Monday but unfortunately he got taken into hospital and it never materialised. It was great to have had that chat with him, though.

Kevin was a real presence on the Curragh. I know everyone enjoyed interacting with him out and about. Trainers on the Curragh would cross paths with him every morning at six, having the banter about whatever is fancied that day and what won the night before. He was old school and a wonderful character.

Kevin really loved Roscommon on a Monday because he’d go and hook up his fishing boat, head off and do a bit of fishing before landing a gamble that evening with something like a two-year-old in a maiden. That was what he loved to do.

He had great friends in that part of the country. He had a wonderful shot in him when it came to shooting too. Himself and Kevin Manning would head off together and do that.

He lived some life.

The word legend gets thrown around a lot but it is the only word to describe that man. As a 16-year-old in 2003 I walked down the avenue to his yard and I have been walking that avenue every year since, no matter what other jobs I had or lost. He was the constant in my career. I know nothing else in racing only him being there. I started off calling him ‘Sir’, then ‘Boss’ and by the end it felt to me like we were family. We shared a lot of special days together. The best was coming back in on Awtaad, everyone roaring and shouting. It was all for Kevin. Today is a sad day. I will definitely miss him.

We’ve been great friends, and he’s been a great fella to work for. We never had a cross word in 37 years.

We had great times with Awtaad and travelled a bit with him. I suppose our biggest regret was Madhmoon not winning the English Derby when he was beaten half a length. That would have been a great pinnacle for Kevin because his father, who obviously achieved a great deal before him, never won an English Derby either, so it was always Kevin’s ambition to have a horse good enough to run in one, he ran in a few, and when Madhmoon was beaten, he was very sad about that.

Look, he had a wonderful life and achieved a huge amount with horses; he was a very talented man. He was a great character and a great person to be around.

He just loved the game. It was a passion for him, he lived it. Especially with Frank Barry, they were brilliant judges of horses. They bought reasonably inexpensive horses and did very well with them. He loved the challenge, right up to recently. He loved the banter of racing and handicapping and everything that goes with it. He always had an opinion. He was just one of the great characters of the game.

I knew Kevin since I was a child. When I was 16, I started riding a good bit for him, riding work and I rode a few winners for him as an apprentice before I became first jockey to Noel Meade. Then I was first jockey to him and rode two classic winners. I could tell you stories about him [laughs]. He was a legend, he was a great man. He was a very fair man, you’d have to say that. He looked after all his apprentices. He had a good few jockeys go through his hands and they all done well.

The best memory I would have to say was the first year I rode Oscar Schindler, I went in on the Tuesday to ride him work. I got off him and said ‘That horse will win no Leger.’

‘You’ll be back here on Friday to ride that horse work,’ he said. So, I went back in on the Friday and by God. I said to him, ‘What did you do to this horse between Tuesday and Friday?’ And you know that smile he had? And the eyebrows going up. He just looked at me and smiled. The horse went out and bolted up in the Leger.

He was a great judge of a horse. Kevin knew a horse’s mind. He was a genius.

During evening stables, you would have to be on the ball. You could not miss a beat because he’d come back and point out what you’d missed. He never missed a trick. He was just a legend.

Kevin was a force of nature. I had the pleasure of doing a season with him and he was a great man to learn from. My uncle set very high standards, a great worker with an unbelievable appetite for life. Racing, sport in general, shooting, fishing, country life – he loved it all. If ever there was someone who you thought might live forever, it was him. He was extraordinary and incredibly good at his craft.

I have so many happy memories of Kevin and the late, great Frank Barry at Goffs and DBS. Both charming, both great judges, both mighty men. Kevin will be missed by many but forgotten by no one.

I spent five great years with Kevin from 1973 to ’78, the time of Nebbiolo, Northern Treasure and Conor Pass. It was wonderful then to renew my relationship with him through Derrinstown Stud, on behalf of Sheikh Hamdan, and we had many more great days. He was a great horseman, a one-off, he won so many best turned out prizes. I’d like to express my condolences to his family.

Reporting by Mark Costello, Amy Lynam and Mark Boylan