TRAINERS and staff at Oxford Stadium are mourning the sudden death of kennel hand Brian Tait, who passed away during the Christmas holidays.

Tait, 56, from Rose Hill, Oxford, who was kennel hand with Gilly Hepden for more than 15 years, hadn’t been feeling too well over Christmas and spent the New Year at the home of Gilly and her husband, Alan.

Hepden said: “He was so good at his job and one of the most reliable. “It is difficult to accept that it has happened, and to our kennel he is irreplaceable.”

Tait attended his final meeting on New Year’s Day.