Death of Valerie Lewis, wife of Best Mate’s owner

VALERIE LEWIS, wife of Jim Lewis, owner of triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate, has died after a seven-month battle with illness.

“She had been ill since May and tragically passed away at lunchtime,” said Best Mate’s trainer Henrietta Knight.

“She was incredibly brave all of the way through and had a lot of chemotherapy and treatment and outwardly showed to nobody that anything was wrong. She was present at the Peterborough Chase and at Aintree when Impek won and was always very cheerful.