Image courtesy Bradley Photograhers - Doug Weir and Jack (J.E.D.) Williams.
Bradley Photographers sent me this one from the mid 1960’s. It features a jockey who came out of nowhere after a very lacklustre start.
Veteran racing people will recognize Doug Weir, a jockey who struggled in the early part of his career before linking up with trainer Jack Denham who took him to another level.
The trainer in the photo is the late Jack (J.E.D) Williams, a popular figure who trained a small team at Canterbury for many years.
You may wonder why Doug was unsaddling this horse from the off side - a very unusual practice. It probably means he couldn’t get the “tongue” of the girth strap to release from the near side.
Gosford born Weir was apprenticed initially to Ossie Pettit at Canterbury and later to Pat Nailon at Randwick. A slow learner, he was actually failed by stewards at his first two attempts to gain his “ticket”.
His first race ride at Newcastle on Boxing Day 1944 was a disaster. He was involved in a fall from Cathedra, sustaining a complex leg fracture which put him on the sidelines for more than a year.
His master Pat Nailon sent young Doug “bush” for many months and it was the making of the lad. He opened his account with a double at Grafton and the winners continued to flow. He finished his apprenticeship with 63 winners.
As a fully fledged rider he elected to base himself at Newcastle. He dominated for several seasons establishing a strike rate which earned him the sobriquet “King Of The North”.
He rode several winners in a short Melbourne stint, before returning to Newcastle where he attained his career highlight - six rides for six wins on Boxing Day 1953.
This was probably the performance that prompted Jack Denham to offer Weir the number one job in Sydney. The jockey moved into a house right alongside Denham’s Canterbury stables and the pair enjoyed a tremendous run together. Doug gave the trainer his first Gr 1 success, when he won the 1955 Doomben Cup on Persian Link. They combined to win seven straight with a brilliant sprinter called Mandingos.
Weir’s spectacular emergence soon attracted the attention of other trainers which led him to a Sydney Cup win on Electro, an Epsom on Ma Cherie, and a Chipping Norton Stakes on Sky High - the horse he rated the best he ever threw a leg across.
Doug had a wonderful run for legendary trainer Maurice McCarten winning races on topliners like Wenona Girl, Young Brolga and Grammar Lad.
Doug Weir’s fortunes plummeted in 1963 when he suffered a broken collarbone in a fall at the Warwick Farm barrier trials. What looked to be a simple injury took forever to heal and on returning to the saddle he struggled to gain momentum.
In 1966, with opportunities very limited in Sydney the jockey decided to accept an offer to take up a Malaysian contract, where his career was regenerated.
Doug was in buoyant mood when he played a round of golf one afternoon in 1968 with fellow Australian jockey Les Coles. His wife Jean said he seemed at peace with the world when he went to bed that night in their Kuala Lumpur apartment.
Doug Weir never woke from that sleep. He was pronounced dead by doctors the following morning at just 41 years of age.
I’ve known many jockeys, owners and trainers over the years whose lives were touched by Doug Weir. They all paid him a similar tribute. Honest, genuine and generous to a fault.
My thanks to Mark Bradley for sending me this lovely old photo. It gave me an opportunity to pay tribute to a man who started life as an apprentice butcher at Gosford and reached the upper echelon of Sydney riders when the ranks were every bit as strong as they are today.
Special thanks to my great friend Bryan Martin, who gave me access to Doug Weir material from his prized collection of Turf Monthly back copies.