PAT Reardon, a former jockey and trainer and accomplished horseman, died peacefully last week. He was 62 and predeceased by his wife, Suzanne.

From Pallasgreen in Co Tipperary, he worked with Jim Bolger and rode successfully as an amateur for trainer Christy Kinane. He also rode frequently on the northern point-to-point circuit. When his riding days were over, he went to America where he trained for approximately 10 seasons, enjoying winners at numerous big tracks, such as Arlington, Belmont and Gulfstream.

He returned to Ireland in recent years and was working in the insurance business up to the time of his passing.

Jim Bolger described Pat as “a very good worker and I was sorry when he left.” He recalled that Pat played a “crucial part” in the breaking of Flame Of Tara, who was champion three-year-old filly in 1983 and went on to be an influential broodmare.

“They had tried to break her in at Pat O’Kelly’s Kilcarn Stud, but it hadn’t gone very well,” Bolger explained. “I made some progress, driving her in long reins for a month, but she was very difficult.

“One evening, she was behaving well for me, so I called Pat to come and see if she could be ridden. He had only sat on her in the box up to then.

“I legged him up and they walked around, so I let them out the door. That’s when she reared up. Pat landed on his feet, running, and the filly fell on tarmac, hitting her head. There was no movement for what seemed an age, but then she got up. Pat got back on her and they walked off. She was a different filly afterwards, a champion, and Pat played a crucial part in that.”

Racing official and former amateur rider Paddy Graffin added: “Pat was a very capable rider. He travelled to the north in the early 1980s with John Sleator and John Queally. We had great laughs. I didn’t see him for 30 years until he came up to me at Thurles one day.

“I remembered his name, which I think delighted him. Pat died from sepsis, having thought he had the flu. He was buried before I knew he had died and I was very sad to have missed his funeral, because I had problems with infections too, since breaking my pelvis and hip in a fall recently.”