Former champion steeplechase jockey turned writer, Dick (82), wrote 42 thrillers based around horse racing becoming one of Britain's most popular and prolific novelists. He was the son of a stable manager leaving school at 15. He famously ran eight times in British Grand National, riding a horse for the Queen Mother in 1956. The horse, Devon Loch, slipped and collapsed beneath him as he looked certain to win, just a mere 50 metres from the line. But it was an an injury resulting from a serious fall in 1957 which prompted the career change to racing journalism and then as a novelist. He is survived by two sons, Felix and Merrick.