Whitbread Gold Cup-winning owner Bob Bowden, who was a pioneering figure in the fields of bookmaking and racecourse management, has died at the age of 78.

He enjoyed his greatest day on course when Ushers Island came from behind to land an unlikely success from 10lb out of the handicap in the Sandown showpiece in 1994.

Bowden was also managing director of Red Onion, which led the way in supplying TVs and monitors to betting shops, and a director of Alphameric, which launched a pioneering electronic point of sales system.

In addition, he was chairman at Sedgefield and deputy chairman at Towcester – at the time it introduced free admission and greyhound racing – as well as a director at Hexham and the Racecourse Association.

He was also a director at bet365, where he worked alongside Steve Ibberson, who recalled: "He was very bubbly, very well known in the industry, and he had relentless stamina. If I was knackered at the end of a meeting, he'd keep going.

"The Whitbread was his proudest story and he had the photograph of the presentation on his wall in Spain. Charlie Swan rode it and if they were betting in running at that time he'd have been 500 going down the back straight.

"He was presented with the trophy by the Queen Mother and interviewed on TV by Brough Scott. He didn't take his wife Nikki with him because he told her it had no chance, so the first thing he did on TV was apologise to her!"

Bowden, who had lived in Spain for more than 15 years, is survived by his wife, two sons and a stepdaughter.