The former racing editor and tipster on the Daily Star, Tony ‘Tiger’ Lewis – who had an amazing knack for finding winners – has died at the age of 81
Tributes have been paid to former Daily Star top tipster and racing editor Tony ‘Tiger’ Lewis who has died at the age of 81.
Tony was among the original members of staff when the Star was launched in November 1978 in Manchester. He began working as a Starform writer and moved to London when the paper transferred to the capital in the late 1980s.
Tony became the paper’s main tipster after the retirement of Colin Fleetwood Jones and also took over the role of racing editor. He became a real punters’ pal and scourge of the bookies with his phenomenal tipping prowess.
JOIN US ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page For six successive years he tipped more winners than any other newspaper reporter in the Racing Post Press Challenge. He had the knack of going through the card and one evening at Lingfield he tipped all seven winners at accumulative odds of 40,000-1.
Tony retired at the end of 2009 when he was 65 but he continued to work. As recently as 2019 – when he was 74 – he covered the Cheltenham Festival for the Daily Star.
Racing Editor and the Daily Star’s current top tipster Jason Heavey said: “Tiger was an absolute legend at the Star. He was an amazing tipster and his copy was always first class. He was a tabloid dream – you never had to change anything.”
Press room colleague David Yates, who is tipster Newsboy on the Daily Mirror, said: “It was a huge pleasure to share a press room with Tony during my early time with the Daily Mirror.
“He was a man of huge experience and no little expertise when it came to his duties as a racing journalist, but the one thing he didn’t have in abundance was ego.
“There was genuinely no side or edge to Tony – he was generous with his time for younger members of the racing media – and he was great fun.”
Tony lived in Kidlington, Oxfordshire. His wife Mary passed away last summer. He died on April 23 and leaves two daughters – Caroline and Jenny – and six grandchildren, Lewis, Georgie, Charlotte, Isy, Emily and Philip.
Lewis said: “We will miss him very much. He was a big character and he never stopped enjoying the races and betting.”
His funeral will take place on May 29 at North Oxfordshire Crematorium, Kidlington.