Pat Haslam, top trainer of bargain horses, dies at 69

FORMER trainer Pat Haslam has died at the age of 69 after battling a long illness. Haslam (below) trained more than 1,000 winners, many achieved with inexpensively purchased horses. His most prestigious success came in the 2005 Prix de L’Opera with Kinnaird, an £8,000 buy. During a career which started in 1972, Haslam trained in Lambourn, Newmarket and lastly Middleham where, after his 2010 retirement, son Ben took over. Ben said: ‘He was a

very shrewd trainer. He had a lot of bad horses but it was all about winning with what you had, and he did that so successfully. ‘Kinnaird was a great horse. He bought her very cheaply. ‘He was a top trainer, a great man and a great father.’ ÷ AIDAN O’BRIEN has hinted that Saturday’s Dewhurst Stakes winner, US Navy Flag, could join his stablemate and sister, Roly Poly, as part of his Breeders’ Cup team for California next month.