Here’s an oldie! Fifty two years old to be precise. El Gordo spooks at somebody in the 45,000 strong crowd at Randwick as he returns to scale after winning the 1966 AJC Derby.
Steve Hart was on deck to snap Vo Rogue with connections and officials , after the great horse had led all the way to win the George Main Stakes at Randwick 23/9/89 - his only Sydney win in eight attempts.
I can’t recall a Sydney Jockeys Premiership attracting more media attention than the 1972/73 edition. Peter Cook led Kevin Langby by 1.5 wins coming into the final day and had great crowd support.
These old “rippers” were snapped almost fifty years ago at La Perouse, where dozens of Randwick trained horses were taken for a swim, in an endeavour to give them a break from the tedium of stable life.
Here is the champion Tulloch, moments after completing a track gallop during his two year old days. The rider is Arthur Ward and the strapper is Neville Johnson, a valued member of Tommy Smith’s staff in that era.
I was delighted to meet Nicole Ward at Ascot (WA) on Railway Stakes day. Nicole is the granddaughter of former champion jockey Arthur Ward, who died five years ago at the remarkable age of 94.
Steve Hart sent me this nostalgic snap of Johnny Marshall, and trainer Pat Murray from the mid 1970’s. John was a shy teenager when he arrived from Perth to be apprenticed to the genial Randwick trainer.
Here’s one to tug the heartstrings. A lovely photo of the late Ken Russell with his devoted wife Carol around 1992. The couple had just returned from Dubai where Ken and Michael Clarke had represented Australia in a world jockey challenge.
This photo was taken by the late Gene Lett, official photographer for many years, at the defunct Harold Park Paceway. Gene’s photo captures Avian Derby scoring a comfortable win in the 1952 Inter Dominion Grand Final - the first series ever held in Sydney.
He’d just broken Phar Lap’s long standing race record in winning the AJC Derby by 6 lengths - and he had the temerity to be playing with the bit as he returned to scale.
There were more commentators than horses at this race callers day, hosted by the Coff’s Harbour Race Club, in the mid-nineties. We all responded to an early “muster” at the Pelican Beach Resort for a casual photo, following a pretty heavy night.
Here is one of the kindest men I ever met in racing. This photo of Stan Cassidy was snapped at Canterbury only a couple of years before a freakish trackwork accident claimed his life at age 46.
The legendary broadcaster Ken Howard coined a phrase years ago, which has passed into Aussie folk lore. For more than thirty years he used the expression “you can bet London to a brick on”, when he was sure a horse would get a photo finish result.
