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.
It was reasonable to assume the touch of raspiness in Tyler Schiller’s voice on Sunday morning was the result of a little socialising the previous night.
Steve Hart indicated he would step up his racing interview quota following his recent retirement from the ranks of Sydney race day photographers. He wasted no time in lining up a chat with 22 year old Mollie Fitzgerald.
On the eve of his 27th birthday and blessed with the luxury of having no need for the sauna, Andrew Adkins has slipped into a comfortable niche among Sydney’s riding ranks.
Any jockey resuming after an injury enforced layoff prays for an early winner. Owners and trainers like to watch the comeback rider for a few weeks to ensure that his or her confidence hasn’t been affected by the trauma of a racing accident.
Chris Parnham’s four win haul at Ascot on Saturday was almost certainly Australia’s best riding performance numerically. At Rosehill Gardens James McDonald calmly snared a black type treble including the Gr 1 Coolmore Classic on Zougotcha.
Steve Hart recently caught up with Kerrin McEvoy who added another Gr 1 to his impressive CV by winning Saturday’s Randwick Guineas on Celestial Legend.
Jim Byrne’s recent absence from the Brisbane riding ranks hasn’t gone unnoticed. His many followers around Australia have wondered why the popular jockey hasn’t been seen since December 16th.
Tommy Berry’s post race interview on Sky Thoroughbred Central after Saturday’s Gimcrack Stakes tugged many a heartstring. The popular jockey had just won the Gr 3 two year old race on Manaal
Sydney’s famous Haymarket district was fairly buzzing on Saturday night when Brock Ryan and his partner Madison Waters joined an excited crowd at the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations.
Two aggressive rides brought Regan Bayliss a Gr 2 double at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. His confidence was buoyed by the fact that he was riding two very fit horses in Nimalee and Surf Dancer
There were a number of classy riding displays at Saturday’s Eagle Farm meeting, none better than Larry Cassidy’s performance on the fashionably bred Tyresa in the two year old stakes race.
It was only a 900m Class 1 before a small crowd at Wellington in the central west on Saturday. To comeback jockey Kody Nestor it was at least the equal of a Wellington Boot in terms of sheer excitement.
Ashley Morgan was clearly stressed when he answered his mobile phone on Sunday morning. He was at Merriwa in the western Hunter region halfway into a four hour trip from Newcastle to the Wellington race meeting.
Several jockeys rode winning doubles on metropolitan tracks around Australia on Saturday while ever consistent Kayla Crowther notched a treble at the Morphettville meeting.
