In his training career, which lasted over three decades, Martin Pipe almost single-handedly revolutionised the world of National Hunt racing. From his yard at Pond House, Nicholashayne, near Wellington, Devon he sent out 4,180 winners in Britain and between 1988/89 and 2004/05 was Champion National Hunt Trainer 15 times. The sequence was briefly interrupted by David “The Duke” Nicholson in 1993/94 and 1994/95.
Pipe saddled 34 winners at the Cheltenham Festival, including Granville Again and Make A Stand, who won the Champion Hurdle in 1993 and 1997, respectively. He also won the Grand National in 1994 with Miinehoma and, in 1999/00, trained a record tally of 243 winners. The latter figure was in stark contrast to the sole winner, Hit Parade in a selling hurdle at Taunton, he sent out in his first season with a training licence in 1974/75.
Pipe retired due to ill heath in April, 2006, and immediately handed over the reins at Pond House to son, David, but warned, “…I’ll be around, as David’s assistant, probably interfering more than I should.” Nearly 12 years later, he still is. At the end of his career, fellow trainer Sir Mark Prescott paid tribute to Pipe Snr, saying, “All those who whined and spread appalling rumours ended up training like him and never had the good grace to either apologise or thank him.”
