Michael Osborne: Those who seek Michael Osborne's legacy in years to come need only visit an Irish racecourse or attend one of the world's great race meetings. Osborne, who died this week at the age of 71, was physically not a very big man, but in every other sense he was a towering figure - not just on the domestic racing and bloodstock scenes, but internationally too.
He was the foremost Irish racing administrator of recent decades and a man who had a profound, and lasting, impact on the sport he graced for nearly half a century.
Future racegoers will watch runners that were bred on the studs Osborne developed; those horses will be ridden by jockeys who graduated from the Racing Apprentice Centre he was instrumental in establishing; the horses will have had their racing shoes applied by farriers educated under another training scheme which Osborne championed; and many of those horses will have been bred, raised, or trained by people who completed the foundation course he developed at the National Stud or by those who simply benefited from his advice.
Osborne was at the heart of virtually all of the major developments in Irish racing over the past 20 years. A former senior steward of the Turf Club, he was also at various times a director of the Irish Horseracing Authority and Horseracing Ireland as well as chairman of the Curragh and Punchestown, Ireland's premier Flat and National Hunt tracks.
He was equally influential on the international stage. In a sport where the instinct towards both protectionism and parochialism can be easily stirred, he was a true internationalist. For him, the thoroughbred was a thing of beauty, of awe. What better than to see the best taking on the best all over the world with horsemen from different nations pitting their wits against one another?
It was typical that even as he battled his final illness, he was still working on ways to revamp racing's World Series, having taken on the chairmanship of the event earlier this year. That the organisers should turn to him for help says everything about the esteem in which he was held throughout the racing world.
Ireland apart, he enjoyed a long and successful association with Dubai, but he also advised a host of other countries. Yet wherever he went, his beloved Kildare remained closest to his heart. A former president of Naas rugby club, he was at the forefront of efforts to revive GAA in the county and led the move to bring in Mick O'Dwyer as manager. Of his myriad achievements in a lifetime of service to the horse business and to the county, the two of which he was most proud were the two that centred on Kildare - being made a freeman of Naas and being conferred with an honorary science doctorate earlier this year by the NUI, Maynooth.
Born in Naas in 1934, Osborne graduated a vet in 1957 and spent 12 years in private practice before being drawn increasingly into the bloodstock and racing worlds. He used to say that his career thereafter was like a plastic bag caught in the wind and coming to rest at interesting places from time to time.
He presided over the Irish National Stud during a key phase in its development (1970-1982), moved to the US to run North Ridge Farm in Kentucky (1982-1986), helped establish Sheikh Mohammed's Irish bloodstock operations (1986-1996) and, as chief executive of the Emirates Racing Association, worked with Sheikh Mohammed to develop racing in Dubai and establish the Dubai World Cup, the world's richest horserace.
To each job, he brought his trademark mixture of enthusiasm, determination and integrity. He was never overly worried about structures or command systems. People were his business, and he delighted in identifying talent and helping it flourish.
He always had an openness and infectious belief in the art of the possible. If it was a good idea, then it could and should be done - and that included building a grandstand in Dubai in less time than most people would take to convene a working party to consider the idea. Everything was done with a modest, understated style. While others would seek recognition and headlines, he operated with an old-style sense of civic duty, never making a fuss nor seeking reward but simply being satisfied that the job was well done. He was the ultimate networker. He always knew someone who could help solve a problem. And the measure of Michael Osborne is that they would always be happy to do it for him.
His influence went well beyond his official duties. There are hundreds of people all over the world, most of them Irish, whose careers in the racing or bloodstock he nurtured or helped. He was an unpaid career guidance officer and mentor to generations of aspiring jockeys, vets, racehorse trainers, stud farm managers and general staff. His time and his advice were willingly and selflessly given. He was as happy talking to the most inept student as the wealthiest stud owner and would give both equal respect and attention.
In everything he did, he had the unwavering support of his wife, Ann, and children Meta, Joe, John, Liz and Jenny. It was they, particularly Ann, who made it possible for him to achieve all that he did. They have lost a loving husband and father. Irish racing has lost a champion - in every sense of the word.
Michael Osborne, born July 14th, 1931; died December 21th, 2005