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.
There’s no quick way to calculate Norm Gardner’s winning strike rate over twenty five years of training, but there’s little doubt it would compare favourably with that of most small stables.
Keen observers of NSW western districts racing were surprised when Wendy Peel made the trip from Brisbane to ride at Coonamble’s Country Championship Qualifier Sunday meeting on March 12th.
“She lifted her head out of the feedbin, walked to the stable door and looked me straight in the eye,” said owner breeder John Muir as he recalled the day Magic Time was passed in at the 2021 Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Thanks largely to her ability to ride at a featherweight, Rachel King is one of Sydney’s busiest jockeys. When acceptances were declared for last Saturday’s Rosehill meeting she’d been locked in for a whopping nine rides.
The creation of the Black Opal Stakes in 1973 triggered a buzz in racing circles. A major two year old race in the national capital sandwiched in between the Blue Diamond and the Golden Slipper made good sense.
“He’s nice to have around in the stable and professional in everything he does,” said trainer Mark Newnham of Saturday’s Parramatta Cup winner King Frankel.
Garry McQuillan has lost a lot of sleep since late October when his beloved Tuncurry-Forster Jockey Club was given the green light to stage the opening Country Championship Qualifier for 2023.
Albert Stapleford can’t lay claim to being Australia’s oldest active horse trainer but he’s probably running a close second. There’s a remarkable 95 year old in South Australia called Bob Hannigan.
Now in her fourth decade as a trainer, Helen Page was chuffed to win Saturday’s Sunshine Coast two year old race with Trifling in the colours of long time clients and friends Frank and Christine Cook.
For Cassie Schmidt, a win in the G&R Timber Merchants Peter Schumacher Memorial Maiden with Gulf Of Tomini beat the heck out of any Group 2 victory at Moonee Valley.
Some time ago Steve Hart called in on talented jockey Jenny Duggan who was waiting for a medical clearance to resume riding after an injury enforced layoff.
A sombre mood has prevailed around Kerry Parker’s Kembla Grange stables these past eight weeks. Kerry and his team are still dealing with the massive disappointment of losing stable superstar Think It Over on the eve of the fabulously rich spring carnival.
I’ve often wondered how a trainer like Chris Waller views a race in which he has multiple representation. With just twenty horses in work David Payne rarely has that problem, although he found himself with a duo to watch in Saturday’s BM78 at Rosehill.
A win with Lights On The Hill at Moruya on Friday put Jamie Stewart in the right frame of mind for the long trip to Rosehill with Iconic Dame the following morning.
“She makes it look so easy,” were the words of trainer Grahame Begg after Saturday’s A.R. Creswick Stakes at Flemington. He was of course referring to the strapping bay filly Passive Aggressive.
Marc Conners felt sick in the stomach when he saw Brenton Avdulla ease Winning Verse right out of the race to finish a distant last in a BM72 at Randwick on April 23rd.
Walcha trainer George Woodward clinched the May award with a stellar day at Glen Innes on May 7th. The 76 year old took eight horses to the meeting and came away with three winners, two seconds and one quinella.
