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.
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.
A host of old friends turned out last Sunday night to farewell Brian Wood from the Warwick Farm racing scene - a place he’d called home for fifty six years.
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.
Those who had the good fortune to make the acquaintance of Lester Piggott never forgot the occasion. The tall, gangly, poker faced horseman with the trademark mutter presented a countenance that gave little away.
The adjective vulpine isn’t as commonly used as you’d expect. Technically it means “relating to a fox” but can be used to describe a person or animal who’s crafty or cunning.
Glyn Schofield walked off Gosford racecourse on Saturday with a noticeable spring in his step. The veteran jockey had just won the last of ten races on the mammoth stand alone Saturday meeting on Coal Crusher.
Hawkesbury training duo Jason and Lucy Keegan-Attard flew the flag for local stables when they combined to win Saturday’s Midway Hcp with the giant gelding Knight.
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.
The Midway Hcp concept was widely lauded by racing participants when introduced on metropolitan tracks last July. The fortieth edition last Saturday created a milestone result for Wyong trainer Kim Waugh.
The award goes to 34 year old Victorian trainer Ben Brisbourne who won four races for the month on four different tracks. Ben trains a small team at Wangaratta and doesn’t mind travelling his horses to find the right race.
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.
Had Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin machine not landed a winning double with Anamoe and Emanate, Golden Slipper day would have been a wipeout for racing’s major players.
Anthony Cummings has saddled up many Group 1 starters since cutting ties with his legendary father in 1991. His first win at the elite level came just a few months after the split.
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.
Our February award winner is Steven Royes from the Queensland mining city of Mount Isa. The talented horseman prepares a small team of eight horses in conjunction with his full time job at the famous Mount Isa Mines.
Shelby Sixtysix looked a classic study in soundness as he hurtled down the middle of the track to blow the opposition away in Saturday’s TAB Highway on a rain sodden Randwick.
Mark Newnham never ceases to be amazed by the deeds of freewheeling front runner Expat. The trainer could do little more than shake his head in disbelief as the chestnut daughter of Makfi defied all challenges to win Saturday’s Gr 2 Millie Fox Stakes at Rosehill.
