Varian leads tributes as John Lowe dies aged 75

Newmarket trainer Roger Varian has paid tribute to former jockey and work rider John Lowe, who died aged 75 in Australia on Monday.

Lowe, who rode over 2,000 winners on the level before hanging up his saddle in 2000, continued to work in racing including a period as a race reader for the Press Association.

Lowe rode work for Sir Henry Cecil for a number of years before enjoying a spell with Varian at Carlburg Stables, eventually calling it a day aged 73 when he moved to Perth, Western Australia, to be closer to his family.

Varian said he was deeply saddened to hear the news that Lowe had died, four days after suffering a stroke while gardening.

“It is really sad and he has left us far too young,” said the trainer. “I haven’t been in contact with John’s family yet but I will be. He spent his last however many years in a riding position with us and I feel very privileged that he did spend that time here.

“John was a great character in the yard every morning. He was a very good judge, as you would have expected him to have been. And he was one of racing’s great characters in my opinion.

“He got involved in a bit of banter but could be deadly serious as well and was a serious judge of a horse and a genuinely good person, which is why I was really shocked to have heard the news from Australia.”

Varian continued: “John has been in Australia for a few years – not too long – but he still messaged as recently as this year when we had big winners. He kept abreast of what was happening over here and would always offer his congratulations if we had a big winner.

“I remember having his 70th birthday celebrations in the yard and he went two or three years beyond that. He had a little wheelbarrow with his tack in that he pushed up and down the yard.”

Lowe rode one Group One winner in Goodbye Shelley, winner of the Prix Marcel Boussac in 1982. He rode the same filly to win the 1983 Fred Darling and also enjoyed Group-race success aboard Full Extent (1981 Gimcrack) and Protection Racket (1981 Doncaster Cup).

He also landed this weekend’s big handicap, the Cambridgeshire, twice aboard Leysh (1984) and Mellottie (1991).

Varian said his input on horses at home was also significant in the nine years he spent at his Newmarket base.

“I remember a very good filly he was involved in day to day called Nezwaah, who won the Group One Pretty Polly Stakes in 2017. He was instrumental in her career,” he added.

“As a trainer I found his opinion and feedback an essential part. We are reliant on our team and he was an experienced old head and voice. He was a big asset in the years he was with us and I am saddened to hear the news.”