Henry Ryan Price (16 August 1912 – 16 August 1986) was a British

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...

in both

flat Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

and National Hunt racing. Born in

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Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, he was best known by his middle name, Ryan. He began his career in

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

as a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

based at East Lavant in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

. In 1937, he relocated to Sutton Bank in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

where he began working as a trainer. His career was interrupted by service with the

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, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Serving with the 7th Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment, he was moved to the

No. 6 Commando No. 6 Commando was a battalion-sized British Army commando unit of the Second World War. Although it was raised to conduct small-scale raids and harass garrisons along the coast of German-occupied France, it was mainly employed as a highly trained ...

for

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. During the 6 June 1944 landing, his Craft LCI(S) No.502 was hit by

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shelling as it approached the

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

beach but he managed to swim to shore and continued with the mission. Discharged with the rank of captain, he resumed his Thoroughbred racing career and eventually settled in

Findon, West Sussex Findon is a semi-rural clustered village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Worthing. Governance An electoral ward in the same name. This ward stretches south west to Patching with ...

where he operated at Downs House, Stable Lane.

National Hunt Champion Trainer

Between 1954 and 1967, Ryan Price was the Champion National Hunt trainer five times. Among his other wins, Price trained the winner of the 1955, 1959, and 1961

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

, the 1959 and 1966 Whitbread Gold Cup, the 1967 Mackeson Gold Cup and Champion Novices' Chase, the 1971

Supreme Novices' Hurdle The Supreme Novices' Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of a ...

, and the 1962 & 1973 Triumph Hurdle. In 1962, he earned the most important win of his career when Kilmore won the Grand National at

Aintree Racecourse Aintree Racecourse is a horse racing, racecourse in Aintree, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, bordering the city of Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase, whi ...

. The following year the Schweppes Gold Trophy Handicap Hurdle was inaugurated at Newbury Racecourse. Ryan Price won four of the first five runnings with horses ridden for him by Josh Gifford. The duo won the race back-to-back with Rosyth in 1963 and 1964, with Le Vermontois in 1966 and with Hill House in 1967, and in 1969 he added to his major race wins when What a Myth captured the Cheltenham Gold Cup. An owner as well as a trainer, Ryan Price was among the first British trainers to purchase young jumpers from

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Flat racing

In 1966, Ryan Price's horse

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, won the 1966 Cesarewitch Handicap and after moving to Findon's facilities at Soldiers Field in early 1970, Price concentrated primarily on the Flat although still having hurdlers in training. For owner Charles A. B. St. George, he won the 1972 Epsom Oaks with Ginevra and the 1975

St. Leger Stakes The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a d ...

with

Bruni Bruni can refer to: * Bruni (surname) * Bruni, Texas * Bruni (horse), an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse * Bruni Olympic .380 BBM blank firing revolver See also * Bruno (disambiguation) Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters * ...

.
This is Findon; The downside of being a racing village The following year, Bruni won the Yorkshire Cup (horse race), Yorkshire Cup and the

Cumberland Lodge Stakes The Cumberland Lodge Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 211 yards (2,406 metr ...

and finished second to the

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champion

filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

Pawneese in the

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Plagued by health problems, Ryan Price gave up training in 1982 but remained involved in racing as an owner. Following emergency surgery, he died on his seventy-fourth birthday at Royal Sussex County Hospital in

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. He was interred in the St. John the Baptist Church cemetery in Findon.

References

* Bromley, Peter. ''The Price of Success'' (Authorized biography of Ryan Price) (1982) Hutchinson & Co. {{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Ryan 1912 births 1986 deaths North Staffordshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War II British racehorse trainers People from the Borough of Waverley People from Findon, West Sussex People from Lavant, West Sussex