Gallops, Horse Racing, John Tapp Racing, Racing History, Racing NSW, Sky Racing
John Tapp
1976 - A MELBOURNE CUP TO REMEMBER

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.

1976 - A MELBOURNE CUP TO REMEMBER

Interviews

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GORDON SPINKS ON THE MEND AFTER HEART SURGERY

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GORDON SPINKS ON THE MEND AFTER HEART SURGERY

Former high profile Sydney jockey Gordon Spinks is making an excellent recovery after major heart surgery at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital.

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BROOKE BOUNCES BACK WITH A GRAFTON DOUBLE!

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BROOKE BOUNCES BACK WITH A GRAFTON DOUBLE!

Brooke, who hadn’t ridden a winner in seven attempts at Gilgandra and Tamworth in the previous week, arrived at Grafton with a book of six rides in as many races.

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THERE’S NO KEEPING BROCK RYAN DOWN

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THERE’S NO KEEPING BROCK RYAN DOWN

In form apprentice Brock Ryan left Kembla Grange on Saturday content with his winning double, but knew in his heart it should have been three.

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LAURI PARKER’S FIRST RANDWICK WIN WAS WORTH THE WAIT!

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LAURI PARKER’S FIRST RANDWICK WIN WAS WORTH THE WAIT!

Covid restrictions currently being enforced in the Liverpool LGA caused one Warwick Farm trainer a great deal of anguish on Saturday. Horse loving Lauri Parker would have given anything to be at Randwick with her five year old stallion Torrens.

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MICHAEL TRAVERS PROVES PERSEVERANCE ISN’T A LONG RACE; IT’S MANY SHORT RACES ONE AFTER THE OTHER

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MICHAEL TRAVERS PROVES PERSEVERANCE ISN’T A LONG RACE; IT’S MANY SHORT RACES ONE AFTER THE OTHER

Michael Travers was quietly chuffed in late 2018 when Racing NSW announced that jockeys would be permitted to both ride and train horses in their home state from the beginning of the following year.

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MICHAEL COSTA CONTINUES ON HIS WINNING WAY!

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MICHAEL COSTA CONTINUES ON HIS WINNING WAY!

Experts say the effects of an adrenaline rush can be felt for up to an hour. If that’s the case Michael Costa was still well primed by the time the Missile Stakes field moved into the gates at Randwick on Saturday.

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MITCHELL BEER RUNS A HAPPY STABLE!

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MITCHELL BEER RUNS A HAPPY STABLE!

“A trainer usually gets more bad news than good news, and most of the bad is beyond his or her control. You can’t be too hard on yourself and you’ve got to have a laugh. It’s easy to handle winners and success. Dealing with the bad news quickly, allows you to get on with the good things. A happy stable is a good stable.”

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KRISTEN’S MIDWAY WIN WAS A PLEASANT SURPRISE!

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KRISTEN’S MIDWAY WIN WAS A PLEASANT SURPRISE!

There were three breaths of fresh air to come out of an unremarkable winter meeting at Rosehill Gardens. Firstly apprentice Brock Ryan put behind him the horrors of a broken leg earlier this year, to ride four of the ten winners - a remarkable feat at such an early stage of his career.

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JENNY DUGGAN BOUNCES BACK - THEY BREED ‘EM TOUGH IN SWEDEN

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JENNY DUGGAN BOUNCES BACK - THEY BREED ‘EM TOUGH IN SWEDEN

Jenny Duggan wanted her return to race riding to be as low key as possible. After all she’d been off the scene for more than a year and knew her fitness and racecraft would need some fine tuning.

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A TALE OF TWO THOMPSONS- THE LATTER PART OF A GREAT CAREER AND THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER

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A TALE OF TWO THOMPSONS- THE LATTER PART OF A GREAT CAREER AND THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER

Mark Bradley was kind enough to send me a photo he discovered recently in the Bradley Photographers archives. This is a precious piece of racing memorabilia from the Wyong jockeys room in 1973.

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BUCKLEY WAS IN THE RIGHT ZONE AT RANDWICK

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BUCKLEY WAS IN THE RIGHT ZONE AT RANDWICK

Grant Buckley’s decision in the late 1990’s to concentrate exclusively on the provincial and country circuit has proven to be a runaway winner for the indefatigable jockey. His reasoning was simple.

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GREG HICKMAN - A HERO IN THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY

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GREG HICKMAN - A HERO IN THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY

America’s victory over Japan in the famous Battle Of Midway in 1942, was no more comprehensive than Greg Hickman’s triumph with Our Bellagio Miss in the equine battle of the same name at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.

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BATTLE OF THE BUSH WAS A TRIUMPH FOR A LOYAL TRAINER AND DETERMINED JOCKEY

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BATTLE OF THE BUSH WAS A TRIUMPH FOR A LOYAL TRAINER AND DETERMINED JOCKEY

Wendy Peel was paid the ultimate compliment by David Reynolds when he elected to entrust her with the ride on Rather Salubrious in Saturday’s Battle Of The Bush Final, even though apprentices were unable to claim.

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A BIG WEEK FOR SAM CLIPPERTON - 7.5 WINS IN 7 DAYS

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A BIG WEEK FOR SAM CLIPPERTON - 7.5 WINS IN 7 DAYS

“You can’t let the strength of the Sydney riding ranks play on your mind,” says popular jockey Sam Clipperton. “You’ve got to stay focused and bring your A game every time you go to the races.”

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RANDWICK OR GULGONG – IT’S ALL THE SAME TO JAN BOWEN!

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RANDWICK OR GULGONG – IT’S ALL THE SAME TO JAN BOWEN!

Surely the most unique winning double of the weekend was the one achieved by Muswellbrook trainer Jan Bowen. The horse loving grandmother was on cloud nine when her consistent three year old Casino Kid stormed home to win the TAB Highway at Randwick.

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INCENTIVISE - THE KNOCK KNEED FOAL THEY CALL “SPLINTER” AROUND THE FARM

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INCENTIVISE - THE KNOCK KNEED FOAL THEY CALL “SPLINTER” AROUND THE FARM

Steve Tregea had cause to worry when Anthony Allen made the snap decision to send Incentivise to the lead 1200m from home in Saturday’s Bm80 (1810m) at Eagle Farm.

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HAS ANYBODY SEEN GREG RYAN?

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HAS ANYBODY SEEN GREG RYAN?

“I’ll wake up one day and say that’ll do me,” was Greg Ryan’s reply when I asked about his likely retirement date on a podcast posted on October 27th last year. Amazingly that fateful day arrived just five weeks later.

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BODY LANGUAGE SAYS MORE THAN WORDS. BLAKE SPRIGGS GAVE IT AWAY AT KEMBLA

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BODY LANGUAGE SAYS MORE THAN WORDS. BLAKE SPRIGGS GAVE IT AWAY AT KEMBLA

It’s not uncommon to see a winning jockey “pump the air” in the euphoria of victory, or shake his or her head when surprised by the dominance of a performance but at Kembla Grange on Saturday Blake Spriggs broke new ground.

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TWO GOOD TRAINERS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE

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TWO GOOD TRAINERS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE

Training partners Robert and Luke Price won’t forget day two of The Championships in a hurry. The father and son team brought only two horses to Royal Randwick, but came away with a healthy portion of the prize money and truckloads of satisfaction.