Dick Francis, the former champion jump jockey (1953-54) and the most loved writer of thrillers based on horse racing, died on Sunday 14 February at the age of 89.

Famously aboard the Queen Mother’s horse Devon Loch, which belly-flopped when leading the field 60 yards from the winning post in the 1956 Grand National, Francis had his first novel Dead Cert published in 1962, and he continued to publish one a year almost throughout his life.

Our Prague-based correspondent Robin Healey told www.cdhorseracingtours.com: "Dick Francis wrote over 40 books, almost all of which were expertly translated into Czech by Jaroslava Moserova.

"Francis' books are very widely read all over the world, not least in the Czech Republic, where only Josef Vana is a more widely-known horse-racing figure.

"Francis twice visited the Czech Republic and Pardubice racecourse, and his large number of readers and fans in the Czech Republic remember him with much gratitude and affection. I certainly hope Francis will be commemorated with a race named after him at Pardubice.

"Francis’ Czech translator Jaroslava Moserova passed away in 2006. Her translations of Francis' books are one of the reasons why the books are so popular in the Czech Republic."

Healey continued: "Moserova and Francis met several times and were good friends - it was memorable to see these two grand old people sitting together at the Velka Pardubicka meeting in 2004.

"Moserova was not only a translator specializing in Francis' work. She was also senator for Pardubice, a former Czech ambassador to Australia and New Zealand , president of the Czech Commission for UNESCO and a member of the UNESCO Executive Board in Paris.

"She was also a qualified doctor, just a few years before her death, she was a narrowly-defeated candidate for the presidency of the Republic. A resident of Pardubice, she regularly attended race meetings at the course.

"Through his books, the memory of Dick Francis will live on not only in the Czech horseracing community, but among countless little old Czech ladies who read his works, in translation, with great enthusiasm," Healey reflected fondly.