Dublin Flyer, the popular bold-jumping front-runner who spent his early career and retirement in Oxfordshire, has died at the age of 26.

The John Sumner-owned gelding was originally trained at Letcombe Bassett, near Wantage, by the late Captain Tim Forster.

But he was based at Downton Hall in Ludlow when he posted his big wins in the 1994 Tripleprint Gold Cup and the 1995 Mackeson Gold Cup at Cheltenham following Forster’s move to Shropshire.

Dublin Flyer, who also won the John Hughes Memorial Trophy over the Aintree fences in 1995, had spent his retirement at the Marston Stud, near Banbury.