Australian Jockeys: Hall of Fame
Sunday, August 31st, 2014
With the Australian Spring Racing Carnival in full swing, we’ve decided to take a moment to reflect on four of the most successful and most inspiring jockeys, past and present. These four represent all that is best about that curious breed of men and women who (along with their mounts) make the sport what it is.
Damien Oliver
Recent controversy aside, Damien Oliver remains one of the most iconic names in modern racing. Oliver was born into a racing family in Perth on the 22nd of June 1972. His father and brother were both successful, well-known jockeys so it was, perhaps, inevitable that Damien would follow their example. Tragically, though riding gave Damien a career, it also cost him dearly. His father died in a fall while racing at Kalgoorlie and his brother fell and died at Belmont Park Racecourse.
Nevertheless, Damien Oliver went on become one of the highest achieving riders in modern racing, winning the Melbourne Cup twice, the Cox Plate twice and the Caulfield Cup four times. Unfortunately, his career experienced a setback following a bad fall at Moonee Valley in 2005. Oliver fractured several vertebrae and did not return to racing for a full year.
Damien found form again in 2007, winning the Golden Slipper Stakes, the Perth Cup, the Sandown Guineas and the Tancred Stakes. Oliver continued to ride regularly until 2012, when a betting scandal saw him dropped from Lloyd William’s Green Moon team.
Luke Nolen
Hailing from Manangatang, Victoria, Luke Nolen is the top jockey for leading trainer Peter Moody. Nolen is known for his very high win conversion rate and especially for his excellent partnership with Black Caviar, the mare generally considered to be the world’s best sprinter prior to her retirement in April 2013. Luke rode the mare 22 times, achieving an amazing 22 wins. However, it was the gelding El Segundo that Nolen rode when he won the 2007 Cox Plate, one of the highlights of his career. Unfortunately, 2008 was a less successful year, with Nolen suffering a nasty fall at Doomben. His injuries were so severe that he was not able to return to racing until May 2009. 2011 was a good year for Nolen, with his second victory in the Victorian Jockeys’ Premiership.
George Moore
Generally considered to be the top jockey of all time, George Moore began his career at the outbreak of the Second World War, in 1939. He won the Senior Jockey’s Premiership in 1943 before relocating to Sydney where, in 1949 in began working with a new trainer, Tommy J. Smith. It was a partnership that would bring both of them a great deal of success.
Moore raced internationally, winning the San Diego Handicap in 1950 and the 1958 Prix du Jockey Club in Chantilly, France and the 1967 Epsom Derby in the UK amongst others. However, it is for his wins at home in Australia that Moore is best known and loved. His many home wins include victory in the Sydney Cup in 1946, 1966 and 1968, the Australian Derby in 1949, 1957, 1962, 1963 and 1971 and the Cox Plate in 1957 and 1968. He rode Hall of Famer Tulloch for 19 of the stallion’s 36 wins and was awarded an OBE in 1972. In 1986 Moore was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. He died in Sydney on the 8th of January 2008.
Clare Lindop
As the first woman to ride in the Melbourne Cup, Clare Lindop has made a name for herself while helping to blaze a trail for the increasing number of women moving into the world of professional racing. Having moved from Victoria to South Australia in order to ride for world-leading trainers such as Ken Sweeney, Byron Cozamanis and David Balfour, Clare was named Adelaide Premiership Jockey for the 2004/05 season. She won the 2008 Victoria Derby on Rebel Raider at odds of 100 to 1, beating firm favourite Whobegotyou. Clare is one of South Australia’s top jockeys and, as for female jockeys generally, it’s hoped that the best is yet to come.
Think you know what makes a great jockey? Think you can spot the winners from the losers? Want to get your friends and co-workers involved? Then the Australian Spring Racing Carnival is the perfect series of events and a sweepstake is the perfect method. Panda Sweeps makes setting up a sweepstake quick and easy and, best of all, it’s free! Let Panda Sweeps take the sweat out of sweepstakes.
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