MANY in the horse-racing world were last week mourning the death of race-going lottery winner Doug Wood, after he died suddenly.

The larger than life character was a popular visitor to racecourses across the country. He had vowed to spend all his winnings on horse racing and his other passion, sea cruises.

Last year, Wood sponsored a meeting at Salisbury which, he told Journal Sport, was a course he always looked forward to visiting.

Salisbury Racecourse's clerk of the course, Jeremy Martin said: "Doug enjoy-ed coming to Salisbury and was a regular visitor, even though it took him over three hours to get here from his Essex home each time.

"He was very supportive of the racecourse, which was one of his favourites, and he very generously sponsored an entire raceday at the end of last season."