Sei Stella was never going to lose the September 15th edition of the TAB Highway at Royal Randwick.

The four year old chestnut daughter of Not A Single Doubt, relished the short trip, and was greatly advantaged when the well-tried Rhyming Puppet didn’t contest the lead.

Stealing somebody else’s creation is not usually my caper, but I cant help myself with this interview. Steve catches up with two former brilliant jockeys who have one significant thing in common. I will let Steve tell the story.

Great to sit alongside Clarry Conners at a Smithfield RSL “Men Of League” fundraising luncheon last week. The champion trainer told me two things of interest over lunch.

When Lisa Sheppard answered my call on Sunday afternoon (September 2) she was still half an hour south of Port Macquarie.  Twenty four hours earlier, she had lived the dream of all country trainers by winning the TAB Highway, with her very first starter at Royal Randwick. 

In most professions fifteen years isn’t such a long time.

In the life of a professional jockey, it’s a pretty lengthy period.

In the case of a female professional jockey, it’s an eternity.

When Larry Cassidy had his one and only ride on Winx, in the Sunshine Coast Guineas on May 16th 2015, he knew he’d had a brush with equine royalty. Going into the race he probably thought she was a pretty good three year old filly, but the fact that she’d already been beaten six times, eliminated any “air of invincibility”.

I sat bolt upright on the lounge last Wednesday (August 8th) when a horse called Itsa Fait Accompli stormed down the outside to win a BM 71 at Canterbury for trainer David Blundell and jockey Robbie Dolan.

You’d be battling to find a NSW punter who hasn’t heard a Gary Kliese “mounting yard mail segment”, on Sky Thoroughbred Central, or his selections for Northern Rivers meetings on Sky Racing Radio.

Great to see Hawkesbury training team Tara and Philippe Vigouroux win with Lettre D’Amour at Kembla last week. Everybody assumed Philippe would have had a hand in naming the horse, but that’s not the case.

Back in 1994 I was privileged to be invited by the late John Inglis, to research, produce, and present a video documentary on the history of a company which has played a dominant role in the development of Australian racing.   

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.

Craig Williams’ spectacular winning streak in Melbourne recently, has taken the spotlight off some fine performances in other states. A good example is Jason Holder’s dazzling 4 win haul at Morphettville a week ago.

I’m a keen watcher of Sky’s harness racing coverage on Saturday nights, which incorporates all races from Clifford Park, Toowoomba.  For several years now, I’ve been aware of the impressive strike rate of jockey Skye Bogenhuber. Rarely does a meeting go by that she doesn’t win at least one race, while doubles and trebles are common.

Good to see Kelly Schweida win the first two races at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday, with Bluebrook and Shogun Son. Both horses finished their races off strongly to score authoritative wins.

Came across this priceless snap in a shoe box full of memorabilia. This was taken in the year 2000 at Robina on the Gold Coast, and features two former champion jockeys.

I was reminded of Matthew Smith’s background, as his 5 year old gelding Plymouth Road led all the way to win the 2400 metres BM 82 at Randwick on Saturday. Matthew was born and reared at Wangaratta in Victoria, which boasts one of the oldest country racetracks in Australia(1855). His Dad Christopher was a member of the Wangaratta Turf Club Committee, and a keen racehorse owner.

How often have you heard hackneyed clichés like “this is unbeatable” or “this is a good thing”, being bandied about at the track or the TAB outlet. We can’t include Winx or Black Caviar in this exercise, but I’m referring to horses who look near certainties, provided everything goes right in the run. One sprang instantly to mind, and that was an imported English horse called Marooned in 1986.

Most race callers are so intent on getting the job done accurately, they wouldn’t give a thought to throwing in a funny line. That kind of commentary wouldn’t have suited the late Bert Bryant, who died in 1991 following several years of indifferent health. Bert believed that punters having a bad day, needed some cheering up, and he set about developing an array of  “one liners” designed to take the pain out of losing your money.