HUNDREDS are expected to turn out at a memorial service for Grand National-winning trainer Toby Balding at Marlborough College this afternoon.

The service will begin at 2pm in the college chapel and will also be live streamed to a screen in the Memorial Hall.

Toby Balding, who died on September 25 at the age of 78, trained two Grand National winners, two Champion Hurdle winners and a winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was born in the United States and he and his brother, Ian, attended Marlborough College.

He was awarded an OBE by the Queen in 2011 for services to horse racing and was regarded as one of the best around when it came to mentoring young jockeys, helping Tony McCoy and Adrian Maguire, among many others, on the road to stardom.

Toby Balding’s niece is the racing commentator and journalist Clare Balding.