RaceCafe..#1...Tipsters Thread.... Share Your Fancies For Fun...Lets See Who The Best Tipsters Here Are.
Boss Hogg

The Good Old Days part 3

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Were talking to mate of mine about The Good Old Days of racing in the 60's and 70's when going to the races was a great day out .With big crowds and a huge atmosphere making you want to be part of the action ,picking winners and screaming the place down  .Now I got to thinking its been a long time since we enjoyed those times . When you go to the pub for a beer it doesn't matter what you talk about after a couple of minutes someone will always start on about Covid  FFS. So a just thought for a change do you remember what was the best day you and your mates have had at the races ?  What was your best win? when you screamed the house down pissing everyone off around you  .In recent years going to the races seams very subdued compared to those days when punters were larger than life .  One of our  big collects  in the mid 70's was we backed Purple Pearl in the Great Northern Guineas to beat Balmerino  brilliant ride by Warrick Robinson keeping Balmerino jammed up on the fence we were yelling all the way up the straight and back over to the old Garden bar behind the old tote .A great day and nite  ,the good old days great memories  , Cheers BH

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Well it seems those good old days are over, unless it is a cup meeting, or holiday period meeting, must admit student day at Awapuni seems good enough. Clubs need to visit the bars around their area and give out free entry tickets, and simple lunch vouchers maybe? I no longer go to meetings health restrictions, I miss looking at the horses in the flesh,waiting for a horse to catch my eye on a prelim. However my lounge seat is comfy, more races to view, no long gaps between a race. I recall addington trots having a 20 min ?  gap between races a while back, thought that was great, but harness is not my thing. Best days, as an 19yo 2 day meet at Timaru xmas carnival, 8 race card each day 14 bets for 13 collects. Cup meet at Riccarton  backed Middy to win cup, Quetta to win paid 13-14, and silver fountain 10 ew at 113 to 1 in an 8 horse field. Few years later Riccarton again, watched a Dick Pelling trained maiden enter the birdcage covered in sweat marks, put a lazy 5ew on it paid 78 ridden by Eddie Low. Cannot confirm, but heard Dick was not on course for the race, but was at the racecourse hotel fuming, horse was supposed to win on the 2nd day? We all have stories share please.

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Got my first horse from monies won over '79 cup meeting at Trentham . 1st day had a good day topped off with a great collect off Raywood Lass in the Anniversary @ 12's .Then 2nd day got heaps off the Cubacade / Raywood Lass cup/George Adams double , they let RL go out at 15's i think , Paul Belsham lifted her off the deck to just pip Liten Hest, screamed my head off . Been chasing it ever since . Not 100% sure on Cubacade or Liten Hest , bloody memory , i,m going to blame it on having seen too many great races and racehorses .

My dad took me to my first cup when Timon won , the Blue Blood pipped Mop and Panagor in the Telegraph , fantastic . I was 13 i think , also remember the Grey Way / Copper Belt clashes , unfortunately Trentham just a shadow of past glories , very sad to see . 

God i could be here all day .

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A group of 3 couples (incl me and the Mrs) went to the Arc, the year Deep Impact was entered. In Paris, the LOuis V shop had a line of Japanese shoppers stretching for 100’s of metres around the block, waiting to get in. Paris was invaded by the Japanese and Deep Impact was odds on to win. We had reserved a table in the 6-star Panorama Restaurant on top of the Stand where we took photos of the food served by black tie waiters. It was that good. Prior to, we were guests in the Aga Khan’s private entertainment room. Vintage Bollinger etc. come Arc time, id picked my bet and was in the queue to put my bet on, standing behind a dapper dressed gent, short in height so probably an ex Jockey,  who was proceeding to unload a large bet on something in the Arc. When my turn came, I asked the tote operator, “What number he had bet on”? It was called Rail Link, a 25/1 Andre Fabre runner. I switched my bet to that and watched it win - and pay for our 5 days in Paris! Deep Impact ran 3rd, returned a positive swab and I think the Japanese Stock Exchanges dropped 1%! Don’t you love racing and you don’t have to go back very far. There’s still plenty of enjoyment today.

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Thanks guys for this topic, there's some older topics in here with photos & videos that need to ne brought to the fore & added to...

Perhaps some of you can add some of the Good ole day images & stories to them.

 

Let's get Racing Racing again!!!

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1 hour ago, Trump said:

A group of 3 couples (incl me and the Mrs) went to the Arc, the year Deep Impact was entered. In Paris, the LOuis V shop had a line of Japanese shoppers stretching for 100’s of metres around the block, waiting to get in. Paris was invaded by the Japanese and Deep Impact was odds on to win. We had reserved a table in the 6-star Panorama Restaurant on top of the Stand where we took photos of the food served by black tie waiters. It was that good. Prior to, we were guests in the Aga Khan’s private entertainment room. Vintage Bollinger etc. come Arc time, id picked my bet and was in the queue to put my bet on, standing behind a dapper dressed gent, short in height so probably an ex Jockey,  who was proceeding to unload a large bet on something in the Arc. When my turn came, I asked the tote operator, “What number he had bet on”? It was called Rail Link, a 25/1 Andre Fabre runner. I switched my bet to that and watched it win - and pay for our 5 days in Paris! Deep Impact ran 3rd, returned a positive swab and I think the Japanese Stock Exchanges dropped 1%! Don’t you love racing and you don’t have to go back very far. There’s still plenty of enjoyment today.

Hi Trumpy that would be a dream day , were in Melbourne 2000 ,in a bar the day before Derby  this group of people were having a great time  real big party ,we managed to wedge in with them and even stayed on for tea ,its hard to get rid of us once we get our foot in the door.  They had a horse in the Derby called Hit the Roof told us it would win and they had thousands on it and told us to back it.  Well being a know all never thought it would win .Home it rolled $40 ,the wife still brings it up, god they never let you forget anything,  Cheers BH

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58 minutes ago, Boss Hogg said:

Hi Trumpy that would be a dream day , were in Melbourne 2000 ,in a bar the day before Derby  this group of people were having a great time  real big party ,we managed to wedge in with them and even stayed on for tea ,its hard to get rid of us once we get our foot in the door.  They had a horse in the Derby called Hit the Roof told us it would win and they had thousands on it and told us to back it.  Well being a know all never thought it would win .Home it rolled $40 ,the wife still brings it up, god they never let you forget anything,  Cheers BH

Surprised she's still with you , mine's the same , but never keeps saying thankyou after handing over some of the big wins . HA .

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Hi Meomy  we ended up in the garden bar just opposite the Hill Stand  great time left the course at 7.30  it doesn't get any better than that  .We've been to 8 Melbourne Cup weeks and it is something everyone should do .No two carnivals are the same ,Cheers BH

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3 hours ago, Boss Hogg said:

Hi Trumpy that would be a dream day , were in Melbourne 2000 ,in a bar the day before Derby  this group of people were having a great time  real big party ,we managed to wedge in with them and even stayed on for tea ,its hard to get rid of us once we get our foot in the door.  They had a horse in the Derby called Hit the Roof told us it would win and they had thousands on it and told us to back it.  Well being a know all never thought it would win .Home it rolled $40 ,the wife still brings it up, god they never let you forget anything,  Cheers BH

Remember HTR well, trained by David Hall and ridden by Glen Boss. Few months later he ran 2nd to Northerly in the Aust Cup. So his Derby win was no fluke. Being by Maroof, he performed best on tracks with the sting out. He must have broken down because he retired quite young - I guess that’s what happens to many that race over 2500m Early in their 3yo year. 

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Loving these stories. I remember my first big collect. It was at Marton races. I got the double Gaystefan - Happy Venture.  £78. I was 10:years old (shouldn’t have been  betting , but my father put it on for me). I am now 71 and that’s what started my gambling. Always packed courses and when it rained they threw hay down on the ground and towed the cars out with tractors. Country racing at its best. 

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3 hours ago, Trump said:

Remember HTR well, trained by David Hall and ridden by Glen Boss. Few months later he ran 2nd to Northerly in the Aust Cup. So his Derby win was no fluke. Being by Maroof, he performed best on tracks with the sting out. He must have broken down because he retired quite young - I guess that’s what happens to many that race over 2500m Early in their 3yo year. 

Maroof was an odd horse , 1994 Queen Elizabeth Mile at Ascot , 66 to 1 outsider by a long way with Richard Hills up  , pacemaker for Carson's ride  Mehtaaf , Mehtaaf ran last and Richard Hills had them over a bit and kept a bit up his sleeve for the straight and won . Hills pulled the same stunt a few years later on a Godolphin pacemaker in same race .

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At age 14 I went to see Stipulate win the Wellington Cup.  He got beaten by a South Island horse.  Top deck of the public stand at Trentham.  It was standing room only.  Stipulate's owner got 2000 quid for second, and joined my parents at the motel for a feed of fish and chips for dinner.  Dining preferences have changed over the past fifty seven years.  What got us to Trentham was the Sales; we had the first North Island crop of Messmate horses to sell.

I was back at Trentham 18 months ago.  On the top deck were two other punters and a female official.  I was by myself at the north end as I sometimes like to watch races from the 150 metre peg.  Surprisingly the official approached me.  She told me that I must extinguish the gasper I had.  She looked as happy as Megan Woods would look if the person in front of Megan had bought the last pie.

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38 minutes ago, Cooper said:

Loving these stories. I remember my first big collect. It was at Marton races. I got the double Gaystefan - Happy Venture.  £78. I was 10:years old (shouldn’t have been  betting , but my father put it on for me). I am now 71 and that’s what started my gambling. Always packed courses and when it rained they threw hay down on the ground and towed the cars out with tractors. Country racing at its best. 

Sounds a bit like me Coops. Introduced to betting by mate at school (much to the chagrin of my parents) and mostly bet on Doubles. Good sized fields and pools usually and still remember the good collects. Prince Petary/Blue Blood, Forebrace/Impartial (no's 13 and 13 at Pukekohe), Krazikid/The Greatest ( 1 and 10 down south,Timaru?), Untried/ Robin Royal, etc Had bought a Mini and a Suzuki 500 by the time I was 17! Betting money aggregated entirely from selling bottles and going hungry to bet with school lunch money and Best Bets my most intimate companion.Very obliging older punters to place my bets at Browns Bay and Milford TAB's. Lament losing the vibe that went with the packed stands and crowd emotion during the races but from whence my passion for the sport came I will probably never know.

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I remember the near misses and tales of woe , as a kid my dad took me Sandown Park a lot . He is a hard man , zero emotion shown in the main bar when he is gambling or abusing his football team  . Mid winter meeting  first race , freezing . I still remember the horse " Benny's Boy " , it was lengths clear over the last and stormed up the hill , suddenly the fuel warning light came on and he was empty and got nutted. He turned to me with massive tears I can still see now in my mind ,  filling up his eyeballs " you crying Dad " . " no Iam bloody not , it's the cold  wind " . He was gutted I could tell. Still  have him on about that the  times we meet up,  40 years on . Both our ashes are heading to that hill .

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Yes, I have sadly been at Trentham on a sorry winter weekday, where I struggled to find 5 ppl to count on course(excluding members which maybe scraped in at 20 odd). It really made it hit home just how close to dying the industry is.

I had many great days on course at Awapuni as a kid in the 80s and 90s, highlight always being the boxing day races with bouncy castles etc-there was always good family entertainment on course and a decent crowd. Sometimes they would run competitions for kids as well. Later on my aunt and uncle had a homebred racehorse who had a few wins there which always added excitement.

Also have fond memories of watching Castletown with Dad, winning from the back on free to air tv. While Mum was at work he would be happily placing bets over the phone with the local tab.

Watching Winx win her 4th Cox plate after a day at Trentham was a memorable moment, with good company. For me, more recently having moved to the Waikato I have loved being able to go to meetings like Legends Day, Waikato Cup Day, and a real highlight was Karaka Millions, boy what an atmosphere! There is life left there yet. The bet/win would have to be the filly I have a share in winning her first start. Certainly got me yelling more than anticipated. Great topic, I enjoy reading the stories. 

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18 minutes ago, Dissident said:

Yes, I have sadly been at Trentham on a sorry winter weekday, where I struggled to find 5 ppl to count on course(excluding members which maybe scraped in at 20 odd). It really made it hit home just how close to dying the industry is.

 

I've posted this on here before , but i tell the younger ones in our game about how Trentham in July used to a 3 day meeting , and you couldn't get a seat on a wet day , even the Wednesday , if you moved without someone to keep it for you , you lost it . Used to skip college in the early 70's to go . And that horses used to win all 3 days , the likes of Greek Meer , Rising Damp , even the lower grades would race all 3 days and win , great memories and greatly missed .

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10 hours ago, nomates said:

Got my first horse from monies won over '79 cup meeting at Trentham . 1st day had a good day topped off with a great collect off Raywood Lass in the Anniversary @ 12's .Then 2nd day got heaps off the Cubacade / Raywood Lass cup/George Adams double , they let RL go out at 15's i think , Paul Belsham lifted her off the deck to just pip Liten Hest, screamed my head off . Been chasing it ever since . Not 100% sure on Cubacade or Liten Hest , bloody memory , i,m going to blame it on having seen too many great races and racehorses .

My dad took me to my first cup when Timon won , the Blue Blood pipped Mop and Panagor in the Telegraph , fantastic . I was 13 i think , also remember the Grey Way / Copper Belt clashes , unfortunately Trentham just a shadow of past glories , very sad to see . 

God i could be here all day .

I might be wrong but didn't panagor come from the south Island,maybe southland,Timon I think won in 74/75,race called by Peter Kelly

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12 minutes ago, nomates said:

I've posted this on here before , but i tell the younger ones in our game about how Trentham in July used to a 3 day meeting , and you couldn't get a seat on a wet day , even the Wednesday , if you moved without someone to keep it for you , you lost it . Used to skip college in the early 70's to go . And that horses used to win all 3 days , the likes of Greek Meer , Rising Damp , even the lower grades would race all 3 days and win , great memories and greatly missed .

Sounds fantastic! I have read a bit about that, and seen the photos of the packed course. One of my older friends talks about the tough thoroughbreds of that era too. Would have been great to experience and see

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I was at Flemington the day Sir Silver Lad won during the Melb Cup carnival, after a poor run in the Cox Plate when ridden by Des Wyatt. Brent Thompson was put on at Flemington. I thought the Cox Plate ride was average and with The Babe on, it would run better at Flemington. Prior to the race I ran into a client of mine who shouted me a beer and proceeded to tell me that he hadn’t backed a winner all day and was down $9000. I told him why I thought Silver Lad was a good bet at 6/1. Anyway, I saw him later and he insisted he buy me another drink because my tip got him out of the crap! I said it couldn’t have - because he was down $9000! He then said he won more than that off Silver Lad - thanks to me. I had $10 on it......

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Here you go Dissident....the crowd outside the Trentham tote back in 1936....! Oh how we’d like to see scenes like that again now.....😉

We used to go there a lot as youngsters in the 70’s....particularly Cup Day...Il Tempo, Ansin and $180 shot Simon de Montfort in ‘72 that stunned everybody. Daria’s Fun in ‘88 running 3.15 or so, a time never bettered, Castletown winning his third cup in 1994.....great memories.

Some great horses in that time and personal favourites like Count Kereru who we won heaps off when he won the Telegraph at 30-1, Grey Way, Copper Belt, New Moon, La Mer and Show Gate. Even Winter meetings where Peter Louis usually won with Harry’s Pal or John’s Pal, Marebello a favourite and Ken Browne always seemed to win a few at the meeting...Peter Fearon rode one in the last one day at 25-1 which got us out of trouble....👍

We lived on the Gold Coast for a while and remember going to the local Golf Club at Tallai on Melbourne Cup Day to back Efficient which I had followed since it won the Derby in 2006. It had been favourite for the race from the time markets were listed but had gradually drifted with a succession of strange runs, different jockeys and tactics, blinkers, jumping and God knows what else. The Williams camp were only interested in one race and had him ready on the day with Michael Rodd back on....started at 25-1 and the cheers from that place you could have heard in Surfers when he won.

The better half was very happy with the cruise we had not long after. Day to remember that one......😉

DBF12AB9-73DC-4452-B5AF-77BA1EC426CE.jpeg

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8 hours ago, Ohokaman said:

Here you go Dissident....the crowd outside the Trentham tote back in 1936....! Oh how we’d like to see scenes like that again now.....😉

We used to go there a lot as youngsters in the 70’s....particularly Cup Day...Il Tempo, Ansin and $180 shot Simon de Montfort in ‘72 that stunned everybody. Daria’s Fun in ‘88 running 3.15 or so, a time never bettered, Castletown winning his third cup in 1994.....great memories.

Some great horses in that time and personal favourites like Count Kereru who we won heaps off when he won the Telegraph at 30-1, Grey Way, Copper Belt, New Moon, La Mer and Show Gate. Even Winter meetings where Peter Louis usually won with Harry’s Pal or John’s Pal, Marebello a favourite and Ken Browne always seemed to win a few at the meeting...Peter Fearon rode one in the last one day at 25-1 which got us out of trouble....👍

We lived on the Gold Coast for a while and remember going to the local Golf Club at Tallai on Melbourne Cup Day to back Efficient which I had followed since it won the Derby in 2006. It had been favourite for the race from the time markets were listed but had gradually drifted with a succession of strange runs, different jockeys and tactics, blinkers, jumping and God knows what else. The Williams camp were only interested in one race and had him ready on the day with Michael Rodd back on....started at 25-1 and the cheers from that place you could have heard in Surfers when he won.

The better half was very happy with the cruise we had not long after. Day to remember that one......😉

DBF12AB9-73DC-4452-B5AF-77BA1EC426CE.jpeg

Many hours spent in front of that board checking out the prices . Then the queues to get your bet on . What would the administators give for regular crowds like that again .

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20 hours ago, TurnipOrange said:

My Dad used to drink in that same bar behind the tote, Doug Vance

Hi  Turnip It was the best bar at Ellerslie  , with everyone dressed in their finest , the coldest 7 oz beer on the planet .I still when walking onto Ellerslie  look over to where the bar was and see my father standing there with a 7 oz in his hand and like your dad  Turnip ,he felt like a King for a day  ,Cheers BH

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