Ian Balding, who trained the brilliant Mill Reef to win the Derby and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 1971 and later saddled the hugely popular sprinter Lochsong to a series of big-race victories, has died at the age of 87, his family said in a statement on Friday.

“We are deeply sorry to share the sad news that Ian Balding has passed away,” they said on the Instagram page for their Park House Stables. “A wonderful family man, a hugely successful racehorse trainer and a brilliant sportsman. He will be greatly missed by all at Park House.”

Balding was just 26 when he took over the licence to train at the historic yard, near Kingsclere in Berkshire, in 1964 after the death of his father-in-law, Peter Hastings-Bass. Widely seen as one of the finest training establishments in the country, it had previously been the base for John Porter, perhaps the greatest trainer of the Victorian era, who sent out three triple crown winners between 1886 and 1899, and Balding was soon adding to the roll of honour, with Royal Ascot winners in 1964 and 1965.

At the time, he was already a successful amateur rider over jumps, with victories including a win aboard Time in the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham festival in 1963, and he established himself among the Flat-racing elite when Mill Reef emerged as a leading two-year-old in 1969.

Mill Reef took the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Gimcrack at York and the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket, the season’s top juvenile event, in his two-year-old season. His first big-race assignment at three was the 1970 2,000 Guineas, in one of the strongest fields ever assembled for a British Classic, with the legendary miler Brigadier Gerard and France’s top two-year-old, My Swallow, also in opposition.

Mill Reef finished second behind Brigadier Gerard but went on to win the Derby, the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and then the Arc, Europe’s showpiece middle-distance event, at Longchamp in Paris. He was only the second Derby winner, after Sea-Bird II in 1965, to win the Derby and Arc in the same season, and remains one of just seven colts to complete the double.

Mill Reef’s exploits ensured that Balding ended the season as the champion trainer on the Flat but the colt’s racing career was ended by a broken leg, sustained during a routine gallop, in August 1972, although he was saved to stand as a stallion at the National Stud.

Subsequent outstanding performers on the track from Balding’s yard included Glint Of Gold, the winner of six Group One races, a top-class miler in Selkirk, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner in 1991, and the brilliant filly Lochsong, the champion sprinter in 1993 and 1994.

Lochsong completed a treble in major sprint handicaps including the Stewards’ Cup and the Ayr Gold Cup in 1992 and went on to win the Nunthorpe Stakes at York in 1993 and the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp in 1993 and 1994.

Balding was one of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s principal trainers for many years, winning the Musidora Stakes at York with Escorial and also saddling Insular to win the Queen Mother’s Cup at the same track in 1988, with her daughter, the Princess Royal, in the saddle.

Balding returned to his roots in the winter code when Crystal Spirit took the two-and-a-half-mile novice hurdle at the 1991 Cheltenham festival, and he also rode Ross Poldark, a horse that he owned, over the Grand National fences at Aintree in the Foxhunter Chase in 1985.

Balding’s father, Gerald, and elder brother, Toby, were also successful trainers, and his son, Andrew, has maintained his father’s record of consistent big-race successes with multiple Classic and Group One wins since taking over the licence at Park House in 2002.

His daughter, Clare, was also a fine amateur jockey before embarking on a hugely successful broadcasting career. She paid tribute on Friday, posting on social media: “My Dad was one of a kind. Fearless, funny and charming he was an all-round sportsman, a great trainer and a beautiful horseman.

“He loved his dogs, his horses and his family - probably in that order. He shared with me his passion for sport and taught me to be brave enough to chase a dream, even if it seemed impossible. We’ll miss him so much.”

Saturday TV races preview

After a hugely positive festive programme which saw significant increases in attendance at many meetings, the weather may intervene on the first weekend of 2026 with a precautionary 8am inspection planned for Saturday’s most valuable card at Sandown.

“We’re going to have a cold night, probably the coldest all winter,” Andrew Cooper, the track’s clerk of the course, said on Friday.

“It could get down to -3C and certainly -2C, which is getting to the top end of frost-cover protection in our experience. If you hit -4C, there could be some freezing under the covers and that’s one reason we’re obliged to have a look in the morning and see what’s happened overnight.”

The meeting also succumbed to frost 12 months ago, when the feature event, the £100k Veterans’ Handicap Chase, was switched to Market Rasen later in the month and won by Joe Tizzard’s Copperhead (3.05).

Copperhead is due to run off the same mark at Sandown on Saturday should the meeting survive, and while he is a year older than his eight rivals, his sound jumping and stamina should keep him competitive and he has a live each-way chance at around 9-1.

Wincanton 1.30 Emma Lavelle’s Silver Thorn was much-improved on his second start over fences and looked to have his race won when left clear as the favourite fell at the last. A 6lb rise in the weights seems more than fair.

Sandown 1.50 Jet Plane is likely to get a soft lead here as he makes his first start in a veterans’ event. Dan Skelton’s 10-year-old posted something close to a career-best to win by nearly 10 lengths at Leicester last month and should be able to cope with a 7lb rise in the weights.

Wincanton 2.05 Olive Nicholls has an impressive 26% strike-rate when riding for her father, Paul, and is the only jockey to have won aboard Him Malaya, who has dropped 1lb below his last winning mark.

Sandown 2.25 Paul Nicholls’s Jubilee Alpha was nearly eight lengths behind Nurse Susan at Cheltenham in December but is 12lb better off in this Listed event and the clear pick of the weights having won a similar contest at Cheltenham April meeting.

Wincanton 2.40 Cruden is a live runner at around 6-1 making his hurdles debut for Dan Horsford’s stable. He showed decent form off a similar mark towards the end of last season and warmed up for this with a solid run into second on the all-weather last month.

Sandown 3.35 Dance And Glance and All In You are closely matched on their recent form at Ascot but Warren Greatrex’s six-year-old was running for the first time in 273 days there and has the greater scope for progress.