Writer Dick Francis, famous for his horse-racing based crime novels, has died aged 89, his family has said, BBC reported.
Francis, who wrote some 40 best-selling novels during his career, was also a champion jockey in the 1940s and 50s and the Queen Mother's jockey.
He first published his autobiography in 1957, and his first thriller, Dead Cert, followed five years later.
Francis's most recent works, Dead Heat and Silks, were co-authored by his son Felix.