National Hunt owner Paul Barber passed away on Sunday at the age of eighty.

A passionate fan of National Hunt racing, Paul Barber ran a dairy and cheese business in Somerset and was the landlord of Champion Trainer Paul Nicholls. The pair formed a lasting friendship when Nicholls took on the lease of Ditcheat in 1991 and have enjoyed plenty of big-race success together.

Barber is best known for his association with Gold Cup heroes Denman and Seemorebusiness, alongside other top-level National Hunt horses. One of his lifetime goals was to milk a thousand cows at the dairy farm and own two Gold Cup winners, an ambition realised when Denman won the Gold Cup in 2008.

In more recent years, Barber has enjoyed big-race success with 2019 RSA Insurance Novices' Chase winner Topofthegame and Clan Des Obeaux, who he part-owned with Ged Mason and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Former jockey and now TV pundit/presenter, Mick Fitzgerald has paid tribute. He said:

"I was very lucky to ride a Gold Cup winner for Paul and I know what it meant to him,"

"Being on top of See More Business when Paul was leading him into the winner's enclosure that day after winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup is a memory that will live forever for me. It's one of my proudest days in the saddle and I was just privileged to be allowed to ride the horse.

"I know what it meant to him to have a Gold Cup winner and I think that is how I would like to remember Paul Barber.

"He was a man who loved what Paul Nicholls did at Ditcheat, he was very proud of what Paul achieved – I know that. They were very good friends as well as Paul being a tenant and I know it meant an awful lot to him to have Paul as his trainer and he took a lot of pride in Paul being champion trainer so many times as well.

"I feel for [his wife] Marianne and the whole Barber family at this time."