Tom Richmond: Wetherby Racecourse lead tributes from racing world to much-loved Yorkshire Post correspondent

Tom, 52, was taken ill on the morning of Wednesday, March 30, and died the following day leaving heartbroken friends and colleagues shocked and the sport he loved stunned.

Wetherby are already putting plans in place for a race in Tom’s honour at the start of the next National Hunt season in October and also a permanent memorial to the popular writer and well-known figure at the county’s nine racetracks. Jonjo Sanderson, chief executive of the West Yorkshire track, said: “Tom was a huge ambassador of jump racing generally but, more than that, he was a true friend of Wetherby specifically.

“Tom went out of his way to help promote Wetherby’s fixtures and to tell me which owner, trainer or jockey he’d been encouraging to run their horse at Wetherby.

“It is our desire to mark the incredible contribution Tom made to Wetherby at the most appropriate time, but our early thoughts are that we would like to honour Tom with a race at the opening meeting of our new jumps season in October, which was his real passion, and the placing of a new memorial bench outside the Weighing Room where he spent much of his time.”

Phil Kirby, trainer of Yorkshire’s only runner in today’s Randox Grand National, Top Ville Ben, said: “Tom was always very enthusiastic; he was very good for the yard and it is just a shame he won’t be there [at the National] for what will hopefully be a good day for us.

“It would be lovely for Tom if [Top Ville] Ben could actually do it for him, really, he was one of his biggest followers.”

Tom, who was also a keen ice hockey and football fan, Nottingham Panthers and Luton Town, his teams – wasn’t actually a member of the sports desk – his “main job” was editing our Opinion pages – which if you knew him was rather apt.

But “Richmondo”, as he was affectionately known, was highly respected by the desk for both his writing skills, prodigious output and knowledge, as well as his ability to turn stories round quickly on big days like Cheltenham, the Derby, Ebor Festival and Royal Ascot for both the paper and online.

The big winter jumps meetings take place on Saturdays but he’d always have something for Sports Monday, preferably reporting on a big Yorkshire or Northern winner – “Northern” for Tom covering an area from Sheffield up to the furthermost Scottish yards – such was his eagerness to spread the gospel, particularly in his favoured National Hunt code.

For the past couple of years I have subbed his racing copy and pages – not that it needed much – and you became familiar with that quirky racing style of writing used by Tom and others talking about ‘the horse of a lifetimes’ ‘aforementioned people’, ‘popular greys’, ‘modest riders’ and so on.

Tom had an unrivalled contacts book and secured an exclusive interview with Sir Alex Ferguson last year after “promising not to talk about football”.

It was heartening for us on the sports desk to see such an outpouring of affection for the big man, confirming what we knew about him, and how he always took a packet of Polo mints on his visits to the many stables he visited.

Tom will be sorely missed.

Tributes: News, page 21 and from social media below