Irish showjumping great Billy Ringrose is being described as an "outstanding" competitor and "true gentleman" following his death after a period of ill health.
The 89-year-old represented Ireland at two Olympic Games, took six individual titles at international Show Jumping Grand Prix and seven Nations Cup team events and was an Aga Khan winner as both a rider and Chef d'Equipe.
Ringrose was part of the first mixed Army-civilian Irish team to win the Aga Khan Cup in 1963 along with Diana Conolly-Carew, Seamus Hayes and Tommy Wade.
He landed another Aga Khan in 1967 before going on to manage the three-in-a-row team of Paul Darragh, James Kernan, Eddie Macken and Con Power in the 1970s.
The Dubliner was also the only rider to have won the Grand Prix event at all four shows on the American tour; Washington DC, Harrisburg Pennsylvania, Madison Square Garden in New York and the Toronto Winter Fair.
“On behalf of everyone at Horse Sport Ireland, I want to pass on our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Col Billy Ringrose, who was one of the greats of Irish Show Jumping,"Horse Sport Ireland CEO Ronan Murphy said of Ringrose's passing.
"His career as a rider and later as Chef d’Equipe was outstanding and he gained the respect of everyone he met not just for his sporting excellence but as a true gentleman.”
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