Bob was in buoyant mood after a win with Mooring’s Melody in the 2005 Parramatta Cup at Rosehill - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
I see Bob from time to time and always enjoy the stories of his riding and training careers. He’s been on this podcast before but not for several years, and it’s high time we checked him out. Bobby taught himself to ride before becoming apprenticed to Tommy Smith. He stayed on with Smith for 17 years after quitting the saddle, but unexpected circumstances led him to his own training career. When Bob retired in 2012 he boasted 29 Gr 1 wins provided by some wonderful horses he’d had the privilege to train. The 83 year old is fit and well and continues to enjoy his long time passion for both golf and vintage cars. Bobby’s on the podcast with some great reminiscences. He begins by talking about his regular trips to the golf course where a regular partner is a former star jockey.
Bob speaks of life on the Hills District property where he and wife Kim provide refuge for horses bereft of suitable accommodation.
He takes us back to childhood days and the little Oatley riding school where his love of horses began.
Bob remembers his apprenticeship to Tommy Smith in late 1957. He says the maestro himself was his first tutor.
The former trainer recalls the only barrier trial he was required to contest before gaining his licence to ride in races. Tommy Smith provided a pretty handy horse for Bob to ride in that important trial. He passed with flying colours.
He recalls his first winning ride and looks back on some very smart horses he got to ride during a brief career as a jockey.
Tommy Smith rarely sent horses to country meetings. Bob remembers one of those rare occasions in 1966 when the boss sent him to Kempsey to ride a very good horse in the local Cup. Despite a crushing weight Count Radiant scraped home in a desperately close finish.
Bob talks about two legendary photos that pop up from time to time. Both show a very young R. Thomsen riding iconic horses in afternoon exercise.
He says he stayed on with T.J. Smith for seventeen years after quitting the saddle. That arrangement ended in a most unexpected way.
Bob looks back on his very humble beginning as a trainer in his own right. He has a good story about his first city win with a horse purchased from another stable. The jockey was the legendary Jack Thompson who supported Bob generously in his early years as a trainer.
He has fond recollections of one notable horse to help kick start his career - a horse with a very curious pedigree. Bob explains.
You can detect the admiration in Bob’s voice as he looks back on his wonderful run with the giant staying mare Bianco Lady. He loved the daughter of Rangong.
You’ll enjoy the former top trainer’s reflections on some of the wonderful horses he got to train with special tributes to Danewin, Shogun Lodge and Slight Chance.
Bob says he got to guide the careers of several talented apprentices during his years as a Randwick trainer.
He had associations with several of Australia’s best jockeys but pays special tribute to Shane Dye with whom he had an impressive Gr 1 partnership.
Thomsen talks of the unpleasant encounter he had with officialdom in 2012 - an event that hastened his retirement from the Sydney training ranks.
He wouldn’t let the opportunity pass to pay tribute to the man who became his trusted foreman and best mate. Bob says Bill Davenport was as valuable to his operation as six Gr 1 horses.
Bob talks of his longtime passion for vintage cars, a hobby he continues to enjoy.
This is a lovely trip down memory lane with a little bloke from Banksia who graduated from an Oatley riding school to racing’s biggest stage.
Bob with the handsome trainer’s trophy after Shogun Lodge’s 2000 Epsom win - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
The gutsy Slight Chance (Grant Cooksley) wins the 1994 Hill Stakes - her 12th and final win. Look at the fire in her eye - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Glen Boss gets Shogun Lodge home narrowly in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes - one of his three Gr. 1 wins. It’s well documented that he was placed in another 12 Gr. 1 events - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Steve Hart snapped this one of Bob very early in his training career.
A young Bob Thomsen in the late 1950s. He and the legendary Tulloch were both well rugged up on a chilly afternoon.
Young Bob tries his hardest not to smile as he unsaddles Persuader, his very first winner.
Bob says Fair Patton was the best horse he rode in a race. He was chuffed to win a race at Randwick on the former dual Brisbane Cup winner.
A 1973 newspaper photo of Gunsynd, with Bob and popular country singer Tex Morton who’d recorded a hit song about the Goondiwindi Grey just a few weeks earlier.
Bob’s passion for vintage cars is well known. He rates this 230SL Mercedes Benz (1963) as his all time favourite.