Pipe, Martin (1945– )

English racehorse trainer. He was champion National Hunt trainer 15 times between 1988–89 and 2004–05. In 1990–91 he became the first National Hunt trainer in Britain to reach £1 million/US$1.6 million in winnings. He has trained winners for both the Grand National and the Irish Grand National. Scientific training methods and his associations with the champion jockeys Peter Scudamore and Tony McCoy accounted for much of his success.

Career highlights

Champion trainer 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05

Grand National 1994

Irish Grand National 1991

Champion Hurdle 1993, 1997

Pipe was born in Somerset, the son of a bookmaker, and was an amateur point-to-point rider before he became a National Hunt trainer. His first winner was Hit Parade at Taunton in May 1975 and he obtained his first training licence in 1977. In the 1988–89 season, he became the first man in Britain to train 200 winners on the Flat or over jumps. In August 1999 he surpassed Arthur Stephenson's record of 2,644 winners to become the most prolific trainer of National Hunt winners in the 20th century. On 11 February 2000, he became the first trainer to saddle 3,000 winners in Britain. He was awarded a CBE in 2000 and retired in 2006.

On his retirement, he handed his training business to his son, David, who trained ‘Comply or Die’ to Grand National win in 2008.