Martin Pipe was a racehorse trainer until his retirement in April 2006.

The son of a West-Country bookmaker, Pipe was an amateur jockey before turning his attention to training in 1974 at Nicholashayne, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, near Wellington

Wellington, Somerset

Wellington is a small industrial town in rural Somerset, England, situated south west of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the town...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Early career

Pipe's initial efforts were conspicuously unsuccessful, his first winner coming with Hit Parade

Hit parade

A hit parade is a ranked list of the most popular recordings at a given point in time, usually determined by sales and/or airplay. The term originated in the 1930s; Billboard magazine published its first music hit parade on January 4, 1936...

 in a selling hurdle at Taunton

Taunton

Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....

 in May 1975 under Lenny Lungo.

It would be another 14 seasons before he would be crowned champion trainer for the first time. The first clue to the upward trajectory that his career would subsequently take came with the 66/1 victory of Baron Blakeney over red-hot favourite Broadsword in the 1981 Triumph Hurdle

Triumph Hurdle

The Triumph Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and 1 furlong , and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped...

 at Cheltenham.

Highlights

Pipe went on to be Champion Trainer

British jump racing Champion Trainer

The Champion Trainer of National Hunt racing in Great Britain is the trainer whose horses have won the most prizemoney during a season. The list below shows the Champion Trainer for each season since 1945-46.-----See also:...

 15 times with successive stable jockeys Peter Scudamore

Peter Scudamore

Peter Scudamore , known universally as 'Scu', is a former jockey and trainer in National Hunt racing. He was an eight-time Champion Jockey , riding 1,678 winners in his career...

, Richard Dunwoody

Richard Dunwoody

Thomas Richard Dunwoody MBE is a retired British jockey in National Hunt racing. He was a three-time Champion Jockey, riding 1699 British winners in his career. His father was a leading Point to Point rider...

, David Bridgwater and Tony McCoy

Tony McCoy

Anthony Peter McCoy OBE , commonly known as A. P. McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish horse racing jockey....

.

On eight occasions he trained over 200 winners in one season, with a record tally of 243 in 1999-2000 and an amazing lifetime tally of 4183 European winners. He saddled a total of 34 winners at the Cheltenham Festival

Cheltenham Festival

The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most prestigious meetings in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, and has race prize money second only to the Grand National...

, including two Champion Hurdle

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. As part of a sponsorship agreement with the online sportsbook StanJames.com, the race is now known as the Stan James Champion Hurdle...

s with Granville Again in 1993 and novice Make A Stand

Make A Stand (horse)

Make A Stand is a retired British Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career which lasted from 1993 to 2000 he ran thirty times, both on the flat and over hurdles, and won twelve races...

 in 1997, though victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup

Cheltenham Gold Cup

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles and 2½ furlongs , and during its running there are twenty-two fences to be jumped...

 eluded him (Rushing Wild came second in 1993). He also won the 1994 Grand National

1994 Grand National

The 1994 Grand National was the 147th official renewal the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 9 April 1994....

 with Miinnehoma

Miinnehoma

Miinnehoma was an Irish bred and British trained Thoroughbred racehorse most famous for his victory in the 1994 Grand National at Aintree, ridden by Richard Dunwoody, trained by Martin Pipe and owned by Freddie Starr....

 for owner Freddie Starr

Freddie Starr

Freddie Starr is an English comedian who became famous in the early 1970s. He is also an impressionist and singer, with a chart album After the Laughter and UK Top 10 single, "It's You", in March 1974 to his credit.-Early career:Under his real name, he appeared as a teenager in the film Violent...

.

Success was not confined to National Hunt racing

National Hunt racing

National Hunt racing is the official name given to the sport of horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Ireland in which the horses are required to jump over obstacles called hurdles or fences...

 either, with 256 victories on the Flat, including six at Royal Ascot.

Martin Pipe announced his retirement on grounds of ill-health on 29 April 2006, handing over the reins to son, David Pipe

David Pipe (racehorse trainer)

The son of the prolific horseracing trainer Martin Pipe David Pipe is the trainer of the David Johnson owned Comply or Die, who ridden by Timmy Murphy won the 2008 John Smith's Grand National at Aintree racecourse....

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Pipe remains within the game as an owner. His horse Gaspara was trained by his son David to win the 2007 Imperial Cup

Imperial Cup

The Imperial Cup is a Listed National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of about 2 miles and 110 yards , and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped...

 and Fred Winter Hurdle

Fred Winter Juvenile Novices' Handicap Hurdle

The Fred Winter Juvenile Novices' Handicap Hurdle is a Grade 3 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and 110 yards , and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped...

. Winning both of these races gained Martin Pipe a £75,000 bonus. In 2009 Pipe was honoured with the creation of a new race at the Cheltenham Festival named after him, the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle

Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle

The Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle is a National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain for conditional jockeys which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and 4½ furlongs , and during its running there...

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