There were 78,500 people at Flemington on Melbourne Cup day 1976. Those still living, hold indelible memories of their visit to the historic course on the day mother nature threw a tantrum.
Those who envisaged Gary Portelli celebrating Kimochi’s Randwick stakes win over a sumptuous dinner and a bottle of champagne, couldn’t have been more mistaken.
When Jamie Kah elected to ride in Adelaide on Saturday, trainer Gary Portelli wasted no time in recommending Cejay Graham to Kintyre’s many owners as a worthy replacement jockey in the Gr 2 Queensland Guineas.
Many race watchers were surprised when broadcaster David Fowler mentioned Spaceboy’s prize money tally immediately after the gelding cruised home in Saturday’s open sprint at Doomben.
Off the top of his head Gary Portelli says he’d had nine or ten Golden Slipper runners since his training career began thirty years ago. He still tingles when he recalls the euphoria of She Will Reign’s emphatic win in 2017.
