AUSTRALIAN RACING HALL OF FAME FINALISTS

HORSES

Amounis

Amounis was bred at Percy Miller's famous stud at Scone. Over a period of eight seasons he proved himself one of the most versatile and hardy champions to grace the Australian turf.

As a two-year-old he was unsuccessful, but the following year he registered six wins including the 1925 Rosehill Guineas. As a four-year-old he had six wins including the Epsom Handicap; as a five-year-old three wins including the W.S Cox Plate; and as a six-year-old four wins, among which were his second Epsom Handicap and the Williamstown Cup.

Improving with age, Amounis registered ten wins from 16 starts as a seven-year-old, and as an eight-year-old four wins, including his famous Caulfield Cup victory carrying a record 9st 8lb (61 kg.).

When he finished racing as a ten-year-old he had won 33 races from 79 starts, and his stake winnings were second only to those of Phar Lap.

Flight

Sold for a song as a yearling, Flight won a record amount for a mare on the track.

A top juvenile, Flight won five of her eight two-year-old races in 1943, including the Champagne Stakes at Randwick. As a three-year-old in the spring she won the Hobartville Stakes, ran third in the Rosehill Guineas, won the Craven Plate and ran a creditable second in the AJC Derby. In the autumn of 1944 she took out the Adrian Knox Stakes, before running a gallant second in the Doncaster, and in the spring won the Warwick Stakes and Colin Stephen Stakes.

1945 was notable for her second win in the Craven Plate, and a victory over Tranquil Star in the W.S. Cox Plate. In 1946 she repeated her triumph in the W.S. Cox Plate, and won the Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington (the race in which Bernborough broke down).

On retirement Flight had won 24 of her 65 starts and been placed in 28 others, with record stake winnings of $61, 650.

Grand Flaneur

Grand Flaneur was bred at Fernhill Stud near Sydney in 1877and owned by AJC committeeman and later chairman, W.A. Long. He belongs to that small band of champion thoroughbreds never to have been defeated.

Grand Flaneur commenced his racing career when he won the five furlong Normanby Stakes at Flemington on New Year's Day 1880. After a lengthy spell, he reappeared at the AJC spring meeting and had no difficulty in winning the AJC Derby, followed five days later by the Mares' Produce Stakes. He then returned to Melbourne for the VRC spring meeting where he won the Victoria Derby, Melbourne Cup and Mares' Produce Stakes.

His win in the Cup gave his rider, Tom Hales, his only success in that race, and reportedly won for his owner some £20,000. In the summer and autumn of 1881, he triumphed in the VRC Champion Stakes, VRC St Leger and VRC Town Plate.

Taken back to Sydney, he was in training for the AJC autumn meeting when he injured a near foreleg and had to be retired. He went to stud undefeated in his 9 starts and the winner of £8,174 in prizemoney. He was Australia's leading sire in 1895 and was near the top of the list for a decade. Two of his progeny, Bravo and Patron, won Melbourne Cups.

Makybe Diva

Foaled in the United Kingdom in 1999, Makybe Diva was put up for sale by owner Tony Santic but she failed to make her reserve (20,000 Guineas). It was therefore decided to bring her to Australia and put her in the hands of trainer David Hall.

Makybe Diva was brought along slowly. Being northern hemisphere bred, she was racing a year above herself and thus competing against older rivals. The patient approach began to bear fruit in the spring of 2002 when she put together a string of wins culminating in the Listed Werribee Cup and the Group 2 Queen Elizabeth Stakes on the final day of the VRC spring carnival, which qualified her for the 2003 Melbourne Cup.

A light winter and autumn preparation led into her 2003 spring campaign. After flashing fourth in the Caulfield Cup, she was not produced again until Melbourne Cup day when she won decisively from She's Archie, giving her 7 wins from 14 starts. Taken to Sydney for the 2004 Autumn carnival, she ran placings in the Ranvet and BMW and then won the Sydney Cup, becoming the first horse since Galilee in 1966-67 to win both the Melbourne and Sydney Cups in the same season.

Makybe Diva's 2004 spring campaign was highlighted by her narrow, half-head defeat in the Caulfield Cup, and her dramatic second winning of the Melbourne Cup. In doing so she created a weight carrying record for a mare of 55.5 kg, became the fifth horse to win two Melbourne Cups, the fourth horse to win consecutive Melbourne Cups, and the first mare to accomplish this feat. She also became the first horse since Carbine in 1890 to win the Melbourne Cup and the Sydney Cup in the same calendar year.

2005 was a succession of triumphs for Makybe Diva with wins in the Australian Cup, BMW, Memsie Stakes, Turnbull Stakes, Cox Plate, and record breaking third Melbourne Cup.

At the conclusion of her career, Makybe Diva had 15 wins and 7 placings from 36 starts, and record earnings of $14,526,685.

Northerly

Northerly was a champion who excelled under both weight-for-age and handicap conditions. His hallmark was courage and an indomitable will-to-win.

Northerly was bred at Oakland Park Stud, Western Australia, in 1996. His first win came in the listed Aquanita Stakes at Ascot in April, 2000, followed at the end of the year by his first Group 1 success in the Railway Stakes. Taken to Victoria in the autumn of 2001 he swept all before him, winning the Group 2 Carlyon Cup and the Group 1 Australian Cup in record times.

The spring of 2001 saw his dramatic clashes with champion mare Sunline, culminating in his victory in the Cox Plate. In the spring of 2002 he dominated Australian racing with 5 consecutive wins including the Caulfield Cup and a second Cox Plate, and in the autumn of 2003 he added a second Australian Cup. His triumphant season earned him title of Australian Horse of the Year.

When injury forced Northerly's retirement in July 2003, he had won 19 of 37 starts, including 9 at Group 1 level. His earnings of $9,341,850 placed him second in the list of all-time Australasian stake-winners.

Shannon

A son of the English sire, Midstream, Shannon was the champion miler of his time. As a two-year-old Shannon in 1944 Shannon defeated his great rival, Tea Rose, in the AJC Sires' Produce Stakes. As a three-year-old he won the Hobartville Stakes, but failed as a stayer in the Rosehill Guineas and the AJC Derby.

Returning after a ten month spell in the spring of 1945, Shannon won four successive races, including the Tramway Handicap, the Hill Stakes and the Epsom Handicap, which he won after missing the start. A year later he was made hot favourite for the Epsom after winning the Theo Marks Quality. Left at least a dozen lengths at the start, he made up the ground in sensational style to be beaten only a half head by Blue Legend. He followed this by winning the George Main Stakes in Australian record time for the mile. Returning to the track in 1947 he won the Canterbury Stakes and his second George Main Stakes.

Soon afterwards Shannon was sold to American owners for whom he won a number of races, and equalled world record times for nine and ten furlongs. He then had a successful career at stud.

Strawberry Road

Strawberry Road proved his star quality by his performances at the highest level in Australia, Europe and the United States.

Foaled and owned in New South Wales, Strawberry Road was sent to Queensland trainer, Doug Bougoure. As a three-year-old he won 5 consecutive races in Brisbane and then went south for the 1983 Sydney Autumn Carnival.

After a close second to Marscay in the Hobartville Stakes, he won the Rosehill Guineas, and, on a bog track, had a devastating 5 ½ length victory in the AJC Derby. His performance resulted in him being voted the Australian Horse of the Year. As a spring four-year-old, Strawberry Road achieved an amazing treble at Moonee Valley - the 1,200 metre Manikato Stakes, the 1600 metre Feehan Stakes and the 2,040 metre Cox Plate.

Following a change of ownership, Strawberry Road was set for an overseas campaign in which he ran a creditable sixth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, third in the Washington International and won the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Baden in Germany. In 1985, following his sale to French owner Daniel Wildenstein, he won the Group 2 Prix d'Harcourt, and the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in France. In the United States he ran second, beaten a nose, in the Breeders' Cup Turf and won at Group 2 level in California.

In 1987 Strawberry Road was retired from the track with earnings of $690, 080 in Australia and nearly $1.5 million overseas. At stud in Kentucky he proved an outstanding sire, being third in North American rankings in 1998.

Super Impose

There was little sign of his subsequent brilliance in the early career of Super Impose. Unraced as a two-year-old, he won two modest provincial races at three. At four he showed signs of his potential when he won the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown in November, 1988, soon followed by the Summer Cup in Sydney.

In 1989 his performances went up a notch as he won the Carlyon Cup and the Turnbull Stakes, and ran second in both the Australian Cup and the Melbourne Cup. In 1990 began his epic and history making success at Randwick when he won both the Epsom and the Doncaster Handicaps. In 1991 he repeated the double, his second Epsom win coming from an apparently impossible position at the top of the straight. One more remarkable feat was achieved when he won the 1992 W.S. Cox Plate in a drama charged event.

On his retirement, Super Impose had to his credit 20 wins and 32 placings, with the then record prize money of $5.6 million.

Wenona Girl

A great sprinting mare, Wenona Girl also had the talent to win over a mile and a half.

In 1960 Wenona Girl won both the VRC and the AJC Sires' Produce Stakes, and finished second in the Golden Slipper Stakes. In the spring she took out the Hobartville Stakes and Rosehill Guineas in Sydney, and the Thousand Guineas and Wakeful Stakes in Melbourne. In the VRC Oaks she could only manage third, but the following autumn she won the AJC Oaks.

In 1962 she won the C.F. Orr Stakes at Caulfield and in 1963 a succession of major races - the George Main and Gloaming Stakes in Sydney, the Lightning Stakes, Futurity Stakes, Linlithgow Stakes and George Adams Handicap in Melbourne. She was still a major force at six, winning her second Lightning Stakes and the AJC All Aged Stakes, before being retired to stud.

JOCKEYS

Arthur Ward

Arthur Ward is reputed to have ridden more champions of the turf than any other Australian jockey - Bernborough, Comic Court, Carbon Copy, Rising Fast, Tulloch, Redcraze, Hydrogen, Prince Cortauld - to name just some. His superb sense of balance, sensitive hands and fine judgment of pace made him a favourite of trainers and punters alike.

Apprenticed to Rosehill trainer Fred Adams, Ward was a "battler'' during much of his early career. His first important success came on the outsider Precise in the 1942 Villiers, but he had to wait two years before winning another feature race, on Decorate in the Canterbury Guineas. In the late 1940s he won two Rawson Stakes on Columnist and Vagabond, and in the period 1949-52 marked up 14 wins on champion sprinter, San Domenico. His first Sydney jockeys' premiership came in 1950-51.

In 1954 Ward enjoyed two strokes of good fortune. In March of that year George Moore was disqualified over the running of a horse at Hawkesbury, and Tommy Smith offered the position of stable rider to Ward. In the two years Moore was absent, Ward rode over 100 winners in Sydney and a host of major races interstate, and won his second jockeys' premiership in 1954-55. A second slice of luck came in October 1954, when a bad race fall put jockeys Williamson and Sellwood out of action. Ward suddenly found himself replacing Williamson on Rising Fast, whom he rode to victory in the Caulfield Cup.

Before his final retirement from the saddle in 1962 Ward had won virtually every feature race on the Australian calendar (with the exception of the Melbourne Cup where his 1956 mount, Redcraze, was narrowly beaten). He also spent 3 years in Singapore where he won 250 races and was twice leading jockey. As a trainer in subsequent years, he won an Epsom Handicap and Sydney Cup. In 1977 Ward went to Hong Kong to train where he had nine successful seasons.

Damien Oliver

Damien Oliver commenced his riding career in Western Australia where he rode 66 winners on metropolitan and provincial tracks and was leading apprentice in 1988/89. He then accepted an invitation to come to Melbourne for a 3 month trial period with trainer, Lee Freedman - and remained indefinitely.

Under Freedman, Oliver had a stellar apprenticeship, riding 478 winners. His first Group 1 came with Submariner, trained by Bart Cummings, in the Show Day Cup in 1990. By the time he had concluded his apprenticeship in 1993, he had 18 Group 1s to his credit, including the Caulfield Cup on Mannerism. Twice he won the Victorian Jockeys' Premiership while still an apprentice.

During the next decade Oliver established himself at the very peak of his profession. He added five more Victorian Jockeys' Premierships to his tally, and twice won the Melbourne Cup, four times the Caulfield Cup, and twice the Cox Plate. His Group 1 wins now exceed 60, and six times he has been awarded the Scobie Breasley Medal.

Oliver has also ridden overseas with distinction, particularly in Hong Kong where he has a number of major wins to his credit.

Darren Beadman

Darren Beadman's riding career has been one of almost unbroken success since his days as an apprentice. In his first year, 1982-83, he won the apprentice jockeys' title, in 1983-84 he ran second, and in 1984-85 he again won the title.

Beadman's first Group 1 win came on Inspired in the 1984 Golden Slipper, and he was to win a second Golden Slipper on Guineas in 1997. In 1990 he won the Melbourne Cup on Kingston Rule at just his third ride in the race. In 1996 he partnered Saintly to win the Cox Plate-Melbourne Cup double. Other outstanding achievements included his winning the Doncaster-Epsom Handicap double on Super Impose in 1991.

In the 1994-95 season Beadman won the Sydney jockeys' premiership and rode an Australian record 186 winners on all tracks. He again won the premiership in 1995-96, but in 1997 announced that he was retiring from race-riding to enter the ministry with the Christian Life Centre at Waterloo. At that stage of his career he had 46 Group 1 wins to his credit.

Since his return to racing in 2000, Beadman has added a further 27 Group 1s to his total, with his partnership with champion Lonhro being the highlight of his renewed career. He gained further Sydney jockeys' premierships in 2002-3, 2003-04, and a record breaking 143 wins in 2004-05.

Frank Bullock

Frank Bullock rode with great success in both Australia and Europe during the first three decades of the 20th century.Bullock commenced riding in England in 1903 and had his first big win in the 1905 Stewards' Cup at Goodwood. Later that year he returned to Australia for a holiday, and picked up the ride on Blue Spec, on whom he won the Perth Cup and the Melbourne Cup.

Bullock returned to England for the 1908 season, and in 1909 moved to Germany where he won the German jockeys' championship in five of the next six seasons. On the outbreak of the First World War he was in England, with the German horse Cyklon. At the conclusion of hostilities, he arranged for Cyklon to be sent to Australia where it had a successful racing career, and at stud sired the winner of the 1927 Melbourne Cup, Trivalve.

In the immediate post war years Bullock had an outstanding run of victories in Australia and Europe. In Australia he won 2 Caulfield Cups (1918 and 1919), the VRC Oaks (1918), the Adelaide Cup (1918), the Western Australian Derby and Perth Cup (1919), and the Futurity Stakes (1919). In England his major wins included the Ascot Gold Cup, the Cesarwitch, three Eclipse Stakes, and in 1925 the 1,000 Guineas-Oaks double. In France he won the first Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe ever contested, in 1920 on Comrade, and repeated the win in 1922 on Ksar.

Frank Dempsey

In a career that extended for 30 years, Frank Dempsey won most of Australia's important races. He was regarded by all as a supreme stylist of his profession.

As an apprentice Dempsey had a remarkable record. In 1915, at the age of just 16, he won the Caulfield Cup on Lavendo. In 1917 he won the Cup again on Bronzetti. That same year he won the Memsie Stakes, Australian Cup, Gimcrack Stakes, Epsom Handicap, and Maribyrnong Plate. In 1920 partnered the great Western Australian horse, Eurythmic, to another win in the Cup. At the age of 21 Dempsey thus became the first jockey to win the Caulfield Cup three times.

During the 1920s and 30s Dempsey was associated with a many great horses. He rode Eurythmic in 20 of his wins, including the Futurity Stakes, Caulfield Cup and Sydney Cup. On champion filly Frances Tressady he won the 1923 Victoria Derby-Oaks double. On Whittier he won the Doncaster Handicap and a succession of weight-for-age races. And in 1925 he took the mount on the rogue horse, Manfred, winning the Cox Plate and Victoria Derby, and running second to Windbag in the Melbourne Cup. Five times he won the Victorian jockeys' premiership. He also rode with considerable success in England, winning over 40 races there during the 1926 season.

Dempsey retired from the saddle in 1939, and subsequently became the starter for the VATC and the MVRC.

Harold Badger

Harold Badger was so small as a schoolboy that he was constantly advised to seek a career as a jockey. He took this advice to heart, and leaving school at the age of 14 in 1922, he was soon apprenticed at Flemington to Richard Bradfield, winner of 4 Melbourne Cups.

It was his light weight that led to Badger's first major success, when Bradfield took him to South Australia and he won the 1925 Adelaide Cup on Stralia carrying 6st 10lb (43 kg). Granted his senior jockey's licence in 1927, he moved to Adelaide as stable jockey for trainer Alf Williams. Badger was an immediate success, winning the jockeys' premiership in his first season.

Returning to Melbourne in 1930, Badger rode for the powerful Lou Robertson stable and for Frank Musgrave, trainer of Ajax. With Ajax's regular rider, Maurice McCarten unavailable, Badger took the mount in the 1937 Victoria Derby and rode Ajax into second place, beaten by the narrowest of margins. Badger and Ajax went on to form one of the great partnerships in turf history - Badger riding Ajax in 37 races for 30 wins, five seconds, and two thirds.

Success on Ajax put Badger in demand with leading Victorian owners and trainers, and he won his first Victorian jockeys' premiership in the 1938-39 season. Further premierships came in 1939-40, 1940-41, 1941-42, 1942-43, and 1947-48. Among his many big race successes Badger numbered two Caulfield Cups, Moonee Valley, Adelaide and Brisbane Cups, two Doncaster Handicaps, two Epsom Handicaps, two Cox Plates, two Newmarket Handicaps, and three Futurity Stakes.

Ron Quinton

Ron Quinton was a leading figure among Australian jockeys in the 1970s and 1980s. Quinton was apprenticed to trainer Theo Green, one of Australia's great masters of young jockeys. Green's influence and his own natural talent saw Quinton become Sydney's leading apprentice in 1967. His first senior premiership came in 1969-70, a second in 1976-77, and six in succession between 1978-79 and 1983-84.

Quinton's first big race win came on Analie in the AJC Oaks, a race he won in two later years. He won Doncasters on Analie and Emancipation, an Epsom on Dalmacia, the W.S. Cox Plate on Kingston Town, and the Victoria Derby on Ravenaux. He shares the record of four wins in the Golden Slipper Stakes with Shane Dye. In 1988-90 he rode in Ireland for John Oxx, for whom he won the Group 1 Irish St Leger.

At the end of his 28 year career, Quinton had ridden 2168 winners, which included 190 feature races and 46 at Group 1 level.

Immediately on retirement Quinton returned to the racetrack in a different capacity, and now ranks among Sydney's leading trainers.

TRAINERS

Fred Best

Fred Best began his racing career as an amateur rider, and then trainer, in the Townsville area. He and jockey Neville Sellwood proved a formidable local team.

Shortly after the war Best moved to Brisbane and was granted a trainer's licence in 1953. His first really good horse was Fort William which won 2 races in Sydney in the early 1950s and gave his training career a taste of successes to come.

In 1956 he trained Book Link, owned by his wife, to win the Queensland Guineas and Derby, and then the Doomben Cup two years later. Other outstanding horses trained by Best were Bengalla Lad (Doomben 10,000 and 2 Doomben Newmarkets), Prince Medes (Stradbroke Handicap and AJC Cumberland Stakes) and Urgona (QTC Oaks).

Best retired in the 1980s, having been in the top 10 of Brisbane trainers on 29 occasions and having won the premiership 17 times.

Gai Waterhouse

Although Gai Waterhouse was part of a famous Australian racing family, her road to success was not an easy one.

Her first 12 years in the racing industry were spent working alongside her father, T.J. Smith at Randwick's Tulloch Lodge. Her application for a trainer's licence was at first refused by the AJC; only after a protracted legal battle was she able to begin her own career in January, 1992.

Three months later she prepared her first winner, and in October her first Group I when Te Akau Nick took out the Metropolitan Handicap. Her first classic winner came with Nothin' Leica Dane in the 1995 Victoria Derby. In 1996-97 she had 10 Group 1 victories, won the Sydney trainers' premiership, and became only the third trainer in history to record more than 100 winners in a Sydney season.

She won further trainers' premierships in 2000-2001 with 153 winners, 2001-2002 with 137 winners, 2002-2003 with 156 winners, equalling the record set by her father, T.J. Smith, and 2004-2005 with 118 winners.

Included in her more than 70 Group 1 wins are six Metropolitan Handicaps, six Doncaster Handicaps, the training of all three placegetters in the 2001 Golden Slipper Stakes, and a second Golden Slipper win in 2004.

Gai Waterhouse has been honoured with the VRC and Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Association Archer Award for outstanding achievement and contribution to the racing industry; and in 2000 was voted the Telstra NSW Businesswoman of the Year.

Harry Plant

As a young man, Harry Plant was a noted buckjump rider in north Queensland.

In the Townsville show ring he set a world record in 1923 by jumping his horse over a bar 233.7 cm (7ft 8in) from the ground.

Plant then turned to training thoroughbreds, winning both the Queensland Guineas and Derby with Bernfield in 1929. He moved briefly to Melbourne just before World War 11, and then settled in Sydney in 1944 where his association with Bernborough in the post war years made him a national figure.

In 1945 Plant took over the training of Bernborough. After a defeat at his first start, Bernborough went on to win his next 15 in succession. The magnificent sequence was brought to an end with his controversial defeat in the 1946 Caulfield Cup, and breakdown in the Mackinnon Stakes.

Plant trained many other fine horses, such as sprinters Fine and Dandy, Time and Tide and Front Cover. His feature race wins included 4 Doncaster Handicaps, 2 Golden Slippers, 3 AJC Sires Produce Stakes, the Newmarket Handicap, Futurity Stakes, Oakleigh Plate, Stradbroke Handicap and Doomben Cup.

Plant retired from training in 1972 and died 6 years later.

Jack Green

A member of a famous sporting family, Jack Green excelled as an amateur boxer and rugby footballer before five years service in World War 11. In 1947 he was granted a NSW trainer's permit, and began to make his name with a small team of horses, including a number of ‘crocks' and problem horses such as Silent, Conductor and Winmil, which he restored to winning form.

Green's career received a huge boost through his association with the progeny of Star Kingdom. The sire's first two winners, Kingster (AJC Breeders' Plate) and Ultrablue (AJC Gimcrack Stakes), were both trained by Green, and there was rarely a time when there was not a son or daughter of Star Kingdom in his charge. Among the stable stars were the full brothers Sky High and Skyline, who were bred and raced by AJC Chairman Sir Brian Crowley, Sky High raced for five seasons and won 29 races including the Golden Slipper Stakes, Victoria Derby, Lightning Stakes (twice), Futurity Stakes, Mackinnon Stakes, Caulfield Stakes (twice), AJC All-Aged Stakes and Epsom Handicap. Skyline won only four races, but they included the Golden Slipper Stakes, the AJC Derby and the STC Hill Stakes. Other progeny of Star Kingdom to excel under Green's training were Starover and Gold Stakes.

Green's greatest training feat was the victory of Baystone in the 1958 Melbourne Cup. He had bought Baystone in 1954 as a yearling and patiently developed him into a strong two mile performer.

Although Green never won the Sydney trainers' premiership, he was four times second to Tommy Smith, and had some 80 feature race wins to his credit. He was tragically killed in a car accident in 1972.

John Tait

John Tait was born in Edinburgh in 1813, and migrated to Tasmania in 1837.

After trying his hand at the jewellery business, he moved to the Bathurst region as the licencee of the Albion Inn and then the Black Bull Inn. He was widely known for his skill with his fists, which enabled him to control unruly patrons.

In Bathurst Tait began his career as a thoroughbred owner and trainer. With his winnings from local match races he expanded his interests to Sydney, where he won the 1850 and 1851 AJC St Leger, and the 1851 Australian Plate and 1851 Queen's Plate. Tait then visited England to purchase breeding stock for his stud farm at Mt Druitt, and established training stables at Byron Lodge, Randwick.

By the end of the 1850s, Tait was the leading owner and trainer in the colony, and could claim to be the first to make horseracing a commercial business. He was also regarded as a man of absolute integrity - hence the familiar name by which he became known, "honest John".

Tait's outstanding horse was The Barb, winner of 17 races from 24 starts, including the 1866 AJC Derby and Melbourne Cup, and the 1868 and 1869 Sydney Cups. He won three more Melbourne Cups with Glencoe (1868), The Pearl (1871), and The Quack (1872). Among his many other successes were the winners of 2 Epsom Handicaps, 3 Metropolitan Handicaps, 4 AJC Derbies, 6 AJC St Legers, 4 Victoria Derbies, 2 VRC St Legers, 2 VRC Oaks, and 3 VRC Champion Stakes.

When Tait retired from the turf in 1883, it was calculated that his horses had won 30,000 pounds in stake money (in excess of $A 3 million in today's currency).

Robert Edward (Bob) Hoysted

Bob Hoysted belonged to one of Australia's best known racing families, which had been training horses for five generations.

Hoysted began his career working for his illustrious father, Fred Hoysted, before branching out on his own as a public trainer in 1956. He trained many good horses during the succeeding 20 years including Midlander, Robert, Hauberk and Scamanda whose wins included the Maribyrnong Plate, Craven A Stakes, Freeway Stakes, A.J. Moir Stakes, and three times the Linlithgow Stakes.

In 1978 Hoysted took over the training of Manikato after the death of his brother Bon, who had the horse as a two-year-old. Over the next 5 seasons Hoysted trained Manikato to win four William Reid Stakes, the Marlboro Cup, Caulfield Guineas, three C.F. Orr Stakes, four Futurity Stakes, two George Ryder Stakes, the Doomben 10,000, and the Queen Elizabeth Cup at Caulfield in the presence
of the Queen in 1981. As Roy Higgins was to say following the Cup: "...all credit to Bob Hoysted. He had Manikato fit for a Queen".

Other outstanding horses to be trained by Hoysted were River Rough, who won two Pur-Pak (now Salinger) Stakes and two Lightning Stakes; Rose of Kingston, winner of the AJC Champagne Stakes, VRC Oaks, AJC Derby and SAJC Derby; VRC Oaks winner, Spirit of Kingston; Blue Diamond Stakes winners Aare and Love A Show'; and Sydeston, winner of the Caulfield Cup, Moonee Valley Cup and Sandown Cup.

Hoysted also made an outstanding contribution to the racing industry as President of the Australian Trainers' Association for 20 years.

Tom Payten

Tom Payten and his son Bayley formed a training dynasty in Sydney that endured for almost 70 years.

In 1876 Tom Payten began work for Michael Fennelly who trained for James White, at that time the most important thoroughbred owner in the Australian colonies. When Fennelly died in 1887, Payten was appointed White's personal trainer. In the following 4 years, Payten trained the winners of 77 major races, including 4 Derbies, 3 Oaks, 7 St Legers, and 6 Sires Produce Stakes. At the 1888 VRC Autumn Carnival, Payten's horsed won 9 races, among them the Newmarket Handicap, Australian Cup and Champion Stakes.

Tom Payten continued to train with great success until the First World War. To the end he maintained his reputation as Australia's greatest trainer of young horses, as seen in his winning list of 9 Derbies, 6 Oaks, 9 St Legers, 12 Sires Produce Stakes, and 9 Debutant Stakes. But he also trained the winners of 6 Australian Cups, 3 Sydney Cups, 2 Epsom Handicaps, and the Caulfield Cup.

He was the first Australian to train the winners of 200 feature races.

When Tom Payten died in 1920, his son Bayley took over his father's stables in Botany St, Randwick.

ASSOCIATES

Aaron Treve ‘Tommy' Woodcock

Aaron Treve ‘Tommy' Woodcock is a Group 1 winning trainer however he has been nominated in the Associates category due to his role in the promotion of Australian Racing whilst strapper of Phar Lap.

Born in 1905, Tommy Woodcock was apprenticed as a jockey at twelve but became a strapper after becoming too tall to continue riding. Phar Lap's trainer Harry Telford asked Tommy to become Phar Lap's full time strapper.

On Phar Lap's trip to America Tommy become Phar Lap's trainer. Upon returning to Australia he was licensed as a horse trainer where he worked until the age of 78. He died at Yarrawonga in 1985.

Adam Lindsay Gordon

Adam Lindsay Gordon arrived in Australia as a typical 19th century ‘remittance man' - a young man sent to Australia by his wealthy family for their mutual convenience. He started work with the South Australian Mounted Police, but resigned in 1855 to become a horse breaker.

Gordon was an exceptional horseman and fine exponent of the art of steeplechasing. In October 1868, he won three, three mile steeplechases in the one afternoon at Flemington.

He was renowned for his courage and recklessness. Riding with friends in the Mount Gambier district, he jumped his horse over the fence surrounding the Blue Lake, across a chasm of 12 metres with the Lake 60 metres below, and across the fence on the other side.

Gordon's other great talent was for poetry. His verse appeared in local publications throughout the 1860s and in 1867 he published his first two volumes of poetry. But as his reputation as a poet grew, business ventures in Bunbury and Ballarat failed, and domestic tragedy afflicted him. In 1869 he suffered bad falls in steeplechases at Flemington, which increased his feelings of depression.

On 23 June 1970, his Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes was published, and enthusiastically reviewed. Two days later he took his own life on Brighton Beach.

Dr Percy Sykes

Born in the Sudan, Percy Sykes did his training in London before World War II, and then served in India with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps. Setting up in practice in London after the war, Sykes was drawn into the world of racing through doing horse insurance work with Lloyds of London.

Sykes migrated to Australia in 1951, and established his practice in Sydney. By the end of the decade his clients numbered many leading trainers, most importantly Tommy Smith. Sykes not only treated Smith's horses, but became his close friend and confidant for 30 years. It was Sykes who diagnosed the cause of Tulloch's almost fatal illness; as Tommy Smith said: "Only for Percy Sykes, Tulloch would have died".

Almost every top horse in Smith's stable, including Kingston Town, had the benefit of Sykes' treatment. Sykes was one of the first veterinarians in the world to initiate blood testing to monitor how a horse was responding to training, and Smith was among the first trainers to avail himself of this facility.

Sykes also had remarkable success in treating horses for leading trainers such as Jack Green, Bart Cummings and Jack Denham. Robert Sangster frequently sought his advice. For Jack Green he operated successfully on Silver Phantom and brought him back to the track, after that horse appeared to have hopelessly broken down.

Baystone was saved by Sykes after breaking his jaw in the barrier, and subsequently went on to win the Melbourne Cup. Igloo, runner-up in the Caufield and Melbourne Cups, was often quoted as Sykes' greatest success.

In 1971 in Perth he broke down completely after shattering sesamoids in both front legs. 22 months later, after treatment by Sykes, he reappeared at Rosehill, winning over 2,000 metres carrying 61.5 kg.

No wonder Sykes was described as "the doctor they call when all hope's lost".

Harry (Henry Eugene) Tancred

Harry Tancred came to thoroughbred racing after building up, with his brothers, one of the largest companies in the Australian meat industry.

Tancred raced many horses, the best of which was High Caste who won 33 races carrying his colours. He was elected to the Committee of the Sydney Turf Club in 1941, appointed Vice-Chairman in 1945, served as Chairman from 1953-59, and retired from the Committee in 1961.

As Chairman Tancred encouraged new ideas. Once satisfied as to the merits of a proposal, he brought all his tenacity and drive to achieve its implementation. The photo finish, mobile starting stalls, and electronic timing devices were cases in point where the STC was a forerunner for developments which have since become standard equipment at racecourses.

Tancred also presided over the Committee when it inaugurated Australia's premier race for two-year-olds, the Golden Slipper Stakes.

Tancred name was commemorated in the H.E. Tancred Stakes (now the BMW), a 2,400 metre weight-for-age event at the Sydney autumn carnival.

Henry Byron Moore

Henry Byron Moore confessed that he was not particularly interested in racing; yet he served as Secretary of the VRC for 44 years, from 1882 to 1925, with the greatest distinction.

Moore was a man of wide culture, a successful financier and stockbroker, and a businessman with extensive entrepreneurial interests. As such he was an ideal man to build on Robert Bagot's foundations and make Flemington the marvel of the age. He was determined that Flemington should be clean, up-to-date, well appointed and free from drunkenness and ruffianism. Among his achievements were expanded and new grandstands, a ladies area with splendidly fitted retiring rooms and a refreshment area, an extended railway platform and imposing members' drive, the beautification of the course with rose plantings which remain a feature up to the present day, and the publication of a Racing Calendar with information on forthcoming meetings.

His entrepreneurial skills were seen in the new emphasis he created for Oaks Day. Having overheard a group of ladies complain that Cup Day was too crowded to show off their fashionable clothes, Moore reasoned that Oaks Day could become Ladies' Day - fillies and fashion went well together!

Moore called on every newspaper editor in Melbourne, and persuaded them that by presenting Oaks Day as a high fashion day, they would increase their circulation.

Within two years, Oaks Day had become the fashion event of the year.

On Moore's death in 1925 the Herald commented on the respect in which he was held by the community: "He was as much at home with the polished sections of Society as he was with the lesser ones. Perhaps there is no better proof of this than the way he was treated by trainers and jockeys...They accepted him as an advisor and friend whose word they could trust implicitly. When they raised their hats or caps to him, it was not done just because he was the Secretary of the VRC, but out of the respect they held for the man".

Percy Miller

Percy Miller owned and managed the Kia-Ora Stud which was one of most successful thoroughbred breeding properties in Australian history.

Miller founded the stud in 1912. Its offering first appeared in the yearling catalogue in 1916, and sold for an aggregate of 280 guineas. Just nine years later Kia-Ora had a representation of 76 yearlings which realised 32,020 guineas. For the next 30 years the stud continued to be a major consignee of yearlings to the sales.

Among the most successful sires that stood at the stud were Magpie, Midstream, Delville Wood, Le Grand Duc and Pantheon. High class performers bred at Kia-Ora include Amounis, Windbag, Chatham, Talking, Winooka, Delta, Shannon, Murray Stream, Prince Delville, Hydrogen, Baystone, Following Miller's death a dispersal sale of the stud was held in May, 1959.

The W.S. Cox Family

The Cox family was associated with the administration of racing in Australia for close to 120 years.

William Samuel Cox (1831-95) opened his first venture, Kensington Park racecourse, in 1874, and it operated with considerable success until 1882. Cox took pains to ensure that the racing was honest and to offer sufficient prizemoney to attract a good class of horse. He also had a flair for timing, and he secured an October meeting on the Saturday before the VRC Derby, which remains today as the meeting at which the Cox Plate and Moonee Valley Cup are run.

Looking for a larger property Cox bought land at nearby Moonee Valley, and opened his new racecourse there in 1883. When Samuel Cox died in 1895, his son A.H. Cox, one of the first VRC stipendiary stewards and an acknowledged expert on racing, took over as Secretary of the private Moonee Valley Racing Club. Another of Samuel Cox's sons, W.S. Cox junior, was a successful amateur jockey and trainer. He rode the great jumper, Redleap, in many of his wins and trained Realm to win the 1893 Sydney Cup.

A.H. Cox was succeeded as Secretary by his brother-in-law A.V.Hiskens, during whose tem in office (1929) the Club was bought from the Cox family. In 1935 Hiskens was succeeded as MVRC Secretary by William Stanley (‘Bill') Cox, grandson of the founder. In 1966, his son W.M. (‘Murray') Cox was appointed Secretary.

Three years later Murray Cox left Moonee Valley to take up the position of Secretary of the VRC, where he remained until his retirement in 1986, bringing to an end an era of racing administration by the family.

ARHOF Media Release Published 05/05/06