TV presenter Sally Ann Grassick has been praised this morning for her heartfelt tribute to her late friend Pat Smullen.
Speaking on ITV racing, Grassick fought back tears as she talked about former jockey Smullen, who died aged 43 earlier this week after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
The popular racing analyst spoke of the impact Pat had in racing and beyond with touching words.
She said: "It's been a hard time for everybody in Irish racing and in Ireland in general.
"There's nothing that we can say that hasn't been said already this week if you read any of the tributes that came out about Pat.
"I think the thing that touched me the most was that it went from car park attendants at the racecourses to the ladies who served the food behind the scenes.
"You would be hard pushed to find anyone who had anything bad to say about Pat. He was just such a nice person.
"I read back through my text messages I had from him last night and pretty much every text message was me saying 'can I get an interview from you at such and such a time' and every reply was 'okay', 'okay', 'okay'.
"That was the type of person Pat was professionally and personally. He was just always one to help whenever he could."
While receiving treatment for his cancer, Pat began a huge fundraising effort for Cancer Trials Ireland.
This effort climaxed with a legends race The Curragh last September - exactly a year prior to his passing - that was a significant part of the €2.5 million the legendary jockey helped raise for the organisation.
And Grassick held one of the mugs, associated with the fundraising event, with Pat's smiling face on it.
She said: "Pat went from being our own personal person in racing to being an Irish hero in general because the mugs they did at the time to raise money made Pat belong to the whole country.
"I think that's the message that we will all remember. He didn't just belong to us in racing, but he also belonged to all of Ireland.
"I think his legacy will go on for a long time."
