I enjoyed an afternoon with a host of former jockeys in the Marscay Room at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. The stories and reminiscences flowed freely throughout the day, and in the manner of a good fishing yarn a few exaggerations emerged.

Todd Howlett ’s ability to find the right races for his horses paid off handsomely in the month of July. He travelled far and wide to land seven winners for the month beginning with the promising Tanglewood at Grafton on July 9th with Aaron Bullock in the saddle.

“I can always tell when he’s ready to run a big race,” said trainer Sara Ryan of Friday’s Coffs Harbour Gold Cup winner Attractable. “When he’s at the top of his game he’s a nightmare as he comes off the training track at Kulnura.

Some jockeys do nothing more than politely raise their whips or doff their caps as they return to scale on a Group 1 winner.  Others look likely to execute a double somersault at any moment.

With five runners engaged at Doomben on Saturday Matthew Dunn elected to head north from his Murwillumbah base, while long time deputy Holly Julius made the long trek to Rosehill Gardens with lone representative Eaglemont.

Those of us who habitually check race results in NSW and the ATC will be familiar with the name of G.P. Vella - a trainer who places his horses carefully and makes the most of every opportunity.

Mike Van Gestel got the shock of his life as he carried Molly Bourke’s saddle to the horse stalls before the BM64 at Newcastle on Saturday.

It’s been one heck of a season for Dubbo based Clint Lundholm. With just over two and a half weeks remaining in the 2022/2023 year, Clint is sitting in 8th spot on the NSW ladder with 71 wins and 113 placings including two dead heats.

Firmly entrenched among my favourite racing memories are those of my first meeting with Ray Selkrig. It was late in 1965 and I was nervously setting up the broadcast gear in the 2GB box at Sydney’s Canterbury racecourse.

The proposed closure of Singapore racing in October 2024 wasn’t a factor in Danny Beasley’s decision to return to Australia in January.

As the field straightened for home in Saturday’s Midway Hcp Oakfield Waratah seemed happy enough to chug along behind the leader Lemaire.

Tim Donnelly is one of many horsemen with a positive story to tell about the Inglis Digital Online Auction. The concept began modestly in May 2017 with one sale a month.

The smile on Scott Aspery’s face said it all as Uzziah snatched victory in the last few strides of Saturday’s Midway. For a Newcastle hobby trainer to saddle up a city winner is one thing. When you’ve only got two horses in the stable it’s something else again.

Rex Lipp is a trainer who waits for young horses to tell him when they’re good and ready for the serious stuff. Two year olds need to have a flashing light on their heads before the Toowoomba maestro will even consider an early campaign.

Followers of picnic racing look forward to a unique triple header in northern NSW at this time each year. The series begins with the Boolooroo Cup fixture at Moree, followed at fortnightly intervals by hugely popular meetings at Mallawa and Talmoi.

Modern day prize money has reached undreamed of levels, but you’ve still got to have a horse good enough to win it.

Luke Pepper’s usually a sound sleeper but he forsook a few valuable hours last week in weighing up options for his exciting three year old filly Opal Ridge.

Homesickness is simply defined as the distress caused by being away from home. It can affect humans and animals and can sometimes take a long time to dissipate. In the case of a New Zealand thoroughbred called Palmetto a full year was required for the gelding to overcome the effects of leaving his rural south island home.

Graeme Scheu was immersed in thought as he set out on a leisurely walk one September morning last year. He and his fellow Goondiwindi Race Club committee members were still coming to terms with the disappointment of having had their all important Cup meeting rained out a few weeks earlier.

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.