2007 Queensland Hall of Fame
Queensland Racing Hall of Fame Inductee – Larry Olsen
After starting as an apprentice in Brisbane with Mal Barnes in 1963, Larry Olsen faced a constant battle with his weight, retiring from and returning to the saddle no fewer than five times. The greatest of those comebacks was when he gave up dairy farming, where his weight got to 80 kilograms, to make a comeback that saw him weigh in at 49 kilograms to ride Kensei to victory in the 1987 Melbourne Cup. Larry rode a total of 24 Group 1 winners, which for a jockey plagued by weight problems and not tied to a major stable, was a remarkable effort.
Queensland Racing Hall of Fame Inductee – Tails
The big chestnut stallion recorded 23 wins, including 14 Stakes races, six at Group 1 level. Tails was one of Australia’s most consistent stayers in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Even though he never won at two miles, he was able to run third to Silver Night in the 1971 Melbourne Cup and second to Mode in 1972 Brisbane Cup. His Group 1 victories included the Queensland Derby, AJC Metropolitan twice, Doomben Cup, STC Tancred Cup and the AJC Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Queensland Racing Hall of Fame Jockey Inductee – Graham Cook
‘Cookie’ started his apprenticeship with his uncle Bert in 1958 and throughout his career won eight Brisbane premierships and also rode successfully in Singapore and Malaysia for four years.
The son of Brisbane jockey, Frank Cook, Graham won just about every feature race in Queensland with the exception of the Derby and also won the 1978 Epsom.
His win in the 1975 Doomben Cup on Golden Khan was one of his personal highlights after watching his father win the race in 1948 on Forge.
Queensland Racing Hall of Fame Trainer Inductee – Harry Plant
A former buckjump champion and professional horse breaker, Harry Plant trained plenty of top Stakes winning horses but is best remembered for the feats of one horse in particular.
Harry, then training in Sydney, turned former Toowoomba horse and inaugural Hall of Fame inductee, Bernborough, into a national icon.
Under Harry’s care, Bernborough won 15 consecutive races in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, including 14 Stakes races.
Queensland Racing Hall of Fame Horse Inductee – Fitz Grafton
The winner of 11 Stakes races, Fitz Grafton won the Group 1 Stradbroke (then run over six furlongs) as a two-year-old.
An indication of his versatility saw him win the two-mile Brisbane Cup in 1904-05.
Fitz Grafton’s first Cup win was late in his three-year-old season after he had won the QTC Guineas and QTC Derby in the previous spring and his second win in the Cup was an all the way victory carrying 10 stone.
The stallion was sold for 2000 guineas and continued to race in India, where he won the feature Viceroy’s Cup in 1906-07 and the King’s Plate.
Four more legends join the
Queensland Hall of Fame
Four more of Queensland’s racing legends were
inducted into the Queensland Racing Hall Of Fame
at the City Pacific Finance Queensland Racing Industry
Awards held at the Grand Ballroom of the Sofitel
Hotel in Brisbane on August 29.
The New Inductees are:
HORSES – Lough Neagh
JOCKEYS – Russell
Maddock
TRAINERS – Dick Roden
Associates – Vince
Curry
 |
Lough
Neagh |
Lough Neagh
In one of the closest votes in the three-year history
of the Queensland Hall Of Fame, Lough Neagh, a winner
of Group 1 races between six furlongs and two miles
was voted as this year’s Hall Of Fame Horse
Inductee.
Lough Neagh can truly be described as a remarkable
horse, having won at least one Stakes race every
year from his two-year-old season through to his
retirement as a nine-year-old.
The gelding won 32 times, which included 22 wins
in Stakes races, 10 of which are now rated Group
1, and also placed another 44 times.
His wins at elite level ranged from the six furlongs
of the Doomben Newmarket to the two mile Brisbane
Cup.
 |
Russel
Maddock |
Russell Maddock
Russell began his riding career in Toowoomba and
quickly graduated to become the leading rider in
Brisbane, where he won nine premierships, including
one when he only rode for four and a half months
of the season due to a broken leg.
Among his many feature race wins were a Stradbroke,
Doomben Newmarket, Queensland Derby, QTC Sires Produce
(twice), Doomben Cup (twice), Queensland Oaks and
the Epson.
He rode a total of 1,804 winners in Australia, France,
Malaysia and England, where he rode successfully
for nine years.
Until recently, Russell was still working as a track
clocker for The Courier Mail at the Gold Coast.
 |
Dick
Roden |
Dick Roden
Born in Mackay in 1926, where he went to the Christian
Brothers School. The Melbourne Cup was a highlight
back then, when the ‘inmates’ were allowed
out at 2.45pm to listen to the big race.
Little did a young Dick Roden probably expect at
that time that he would expect at that time that
he would train the winner of that race.
Dick completed an animal husbandry course at Gatton
before riding as an amateur jockey through the war
years notching up around 100 winners in the saddle.
Training his first winner at 24 with his second
starter at Eagle Farm, Dick won the Brisbane and
Melbourne Cups in 1959 with Macdougal and few will
ever forget Divide And Rule’s sensational win
in the 1970 Stradbroke and the huge plunge that was
made on the horse.
These were just a couple of the many big race winners
that he prepared.
 |
Vince
Curry |
Vince Curry
To this day, Vince Curry is regarded as the best
race caller that Queensland has produced. In fact,
his broadcasting was respected nationwide.
Vince, who died in 1983, started his calling career
with 4GR in Toowoomba, where he grew up. He became
the race caller for 4BC in Brisbane following the
death of Ron Anwin.
He was dedicated, quick and articulate in describing
a race and his passion for the sport even involved
ownership. Vince built an enormous following through
airwaves of 4BC.
Dabbling in racehorse ownership in the late 1970’s,
Vince had success as an owner with a horse named
Half Scotch.
|
