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.
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.
The neverending Covid restrictions prevented Steve Hart from conducting his popular racing interviews for the best part of a year, but he’s back with a bang!
The long awaited return of It’s Me in the Triscay Stakes on Saturday was overshadowed by the hype surrounding the likes of Espiona, Very Elleegant, Lost And Running, Colette and a handful of other luminaries.
Thirty one year old Stirling Osland was a regular visitor to the winner’s circle on NSW country tracks in the first month of the new year. He won six races which included two doubles, one at Armidale and the other at Inverell on Cup day.
Trainer Joe Burges was confident Markwell Dreamer had enough ability to figure in the finish of Saturday’s TAB Highway provided he did everything right.
Gayna Williams wouldn’t have cared if half of Bathurst had witnessed her unbridled display of acrobatics as Zoo Station scored an emphatic win in Saturday’s TAB Highway at Rosehill Gardens.
“I’ve had some unforgettable thrills since the company commenced operations thirty five years ago, and Fireburn’s two city wins are right up there with the best of them,” said Louis Mihalyka
Nyngan’s Brett Robb was caught on the hop in August of last year when his father Rodney suddenly decided to quit his role as a full time horse trainer.
George Moore told me in 2002 that his failure to win a Melbourne Cup in nineteen rides was of little concern to him. His wife Iris told me differently.
“Can you imagine the number of track gallops those blokes have ridden for Warwick Farm trainers over the years?” The question was posed by one of fifty guests at a recent Xmas gathering hosted by seafood restaurateur and racing devotee Mick Doyle.
