Robert Smith, the Newcastle trainer who won a group 1 Paws Of Thunder with Lochinvar Marlow and steered Miss Elly Mint to a record 16 consecutive wins, died on Wednesday night after a six months struggle with cancer.
His wife Debbie was at his bedside when Smith, whose remarkable winning strike rate made him one of the sport's most successful trainers of all time, succumbed to the disease, aged 68.
Lochinvar Marlow won the 2010 Paws Of Thunder for Smith and owner Kevin Gordon, while Miss Elly Mint, who was raced by Ray Watson, was runner-up to Dana Beatrice in the 2009 Golden Easter Egg.
Miss Elly Mint had rewritten the record books when she strung together 16 successive wins, in top grade TAB company in 2009, breaking the previous record of 15 straight shared by Kate's A Scandal and True Vintage.
She was retired after winning 44 of 66 races.
Smith, who in recent years trained almost exclusively for Kevin Gordon and his family, also prepared the mighty Lochinvar Hugo, who won 30 from 50 starts in 2017 and 2018 over distances ranging from 515m to 720m.
Statistics reveal the Barnsley (Newcastle) mentor had 1503 starters from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2020, for an incredible 438 winners.
Robert Smith is survived by wife Debbie, daughters Kimberley and Nikita, and grand-children Hally, Alexander and Archie.
GRNSW wishes to extend its sincere condolences to Robert's family and friends on their loss.
