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.
Winona Costin doesn’t remember riding a pony called Midgey on a farm in Cambridge NZ, when she was only three years old, but her mother has never forgotten it.
Harry White would have given anything to ride one more Melbourne Cup winner before his retirement in 1995, for no other reason than to “shake old Bobby off”.
My very first thought when Maid Of Heaven threw herself at the line to win the GR 1 Spring Champion Stakes, was for her trainer Mark Newnham. It was a defining moment in the career of the fifty year old, who’s had nothing else but racing on his mind, since early teen years.
Back in 1994 I was privileged to be invited by the late John Inglis, to research, produce, and present a video documentary on the history of a company which has played a dominant role in the development of Australian racing.
