Fran Berry pays a personal tribute to Pat Smullen following his death at the age of 43

The news of the death of Pat Smullen came as a shock.

We all knew what Pat had gone through over the last two-and-a-half years but yesterday morning we got the news that things weren’t at all good, but, even so, when we learned of his death later in the day it was a real body blow to everyone.

I’m just back from the Curragh where they brought his hearse down alongside the racecourse and people from the industry formed a guard of honour. At times of the Covid restrictions it was nice for people, who might not be able to travel to the funeral, to pay their respects.

I’m very proud of the racing people for what they did there and my heart just goes out to Pat’s family.

In the saddle his strengths were his sheer determination and tactically he was very astute. He was strong in the finish and had the full skillset but I was always impressed with his mind-set, his total determination that he wasn’t going to get beat.

He had that from riding ponies and all the way through to replacing Mick Kinane as stable jockey to Dermot Weld. He had huge shoes to fill there but not only filled them but made the job his own.

He just had a great way of getting in the right place in a race. He was wonderful from the front, if he went on and you were after dropping one out you knew you were probably in trouble as he’d get the fractions right, slow it up and make sure the race was to run to suit himself.

Pat was a hard man to beat around the country tracks in Ireland but as he showed on Free Eagle and Rite Of Passage at Royal Ascot he was versatile and on both of those occasions making the right move at the right time was crucial to the horses winning. He did it brilliantly.

Away from the saddle he was a sound and decent man. People saw him at the races with his game face on but he was great company. We used to travel to meetings in the car together, four of us, Kevin Manning, Declan McDonogh, myself and Pat and we’d take turns in driving.

If you think about it that was four of the top five jockeys in the standings in Ireland, battling out finishes every day, fighting for rides, but that would all be left on the track.

Back in the car everyone was great friends again and we had some wonderful times and journeys.

Pat also did an awful lot of work for the jockeys’ association, he was always at the meetings, at the end of the phone for any young riders who needed help. Even when he retired he was still there to offer advice and mentor the next generation.

Family was very important to him and his home in Rhode, where he is going back to on Wednesday evening, with Frances and the kids, is where he wanted to be. That was where he was happiest. It was him.

He was just a very decent man with no heirs or graces about him and along the road at the Curragh today there was everyone from Dermot Weld and Mick Kinane, to lads who worked in the stables. He touched a broad spectrum of people.

The tributes being paid to him have been overwhelming, I’ve been trying to read them all day and keep up to date on Twitter.

He covered a lot of ground, he rode in America, had spells in Hong Kong, Dubai and Australia and wherever he went he made a big impression and left on a good note.

You can really see that coming through in the tributes and that’s a testament to the man.

I’ll remember Pat Smullen as a great friend. We used to speak most days and run everything by each other and confide in them too. He had a great sense of humour.

I’ll really miss that and as well as Pat the rider we must remember the man too.

When I was up at the racecourse today I realised it was a year to the day on Tuesday that the legends race had taken place there, organised by Pat and through a very good committee.

Because of him there was three million euros raised for research into pancreatic cancer. That amount was only possible because of who he was, what he stood for and how widely he was liked.

That money going into research will make differences to other lives down the line and all the work he did, all the money he raised, will help save people in the years to come.

That is a big part of the legacy of a wonderful man, jockey and friend.