Josh Gifford sent out the first winner from his Findon stables for six months when Skycab won at Southwell last weekend.

Gifford has had very few runners since the Spring and Skycab was saddled by his son Nick, who will soon be concentrating on his own team of point-to-pointers and hunter-chasers.

But the win will have done little to cheer Josh, who on Sunday flew to Nashville, Tennessee to attend the funeral of his good friend George Sloan.

Sloan died in a shooting accident and is remembered with affection by all jumping enthusiasts in this country.

He was champion amateur rider here in 1978 with 23 winners, most of which were trained by Gifford. Perhaps the best of Sloan's horses was Earthstopper on whom he won the Mandarin Chase and other top races.

Sloan was introduced to racing in Britain in the early 70s by his brother Paul who taught at Lancing College, Worthing.

For some years he commuted regularly from the USA to ride out for Captain Ryan Price at a time when Josh Gifford was first jockey for the stable.

Lack of opportunity for steeplechasing in America gave Sloan the idea of trying to become champion in this country. He bought a house in Findon and was soon a popular member of the jumping circuit.

He had several rides in the Grand National and rode his own horse, New Arctic, in the Velka Pard Ubice in the Czech Republic.

Sloan was a qualified lawyer and also owned restaurants and a health farm. He loved England and married Jane Thorne, whose twin sister Diana is married to trainer Nicky Henderson. Sloan was one of the instigators of the Sport of Kings Series which involves huge bonuses for any horse winning over fences at Cheltenham and in Maryland, USA.

No sooner had jockey Philip Hide been interviewed for Turf Talk, than he broke his arm in a freak accident at Towcester.

Amazingly he drove himself back home to Findon and then attended Worthing Hospital where he was detained for four nights during which time his right forearm was pinned and plastered to above the elbow.

"It is most frustrating," he said. "Things were just getting going, but now I don't know when I'll be able to ride again.

"I have to go back to hospital for an assessment at the end of the month and I hope the specialist will be able to say that the mending process is on-going."

Such is the way with jump racing that Hide's misfortune will bring opportunities for Leighton Aspell as trainer Gifford steps up his operation.