Forbury Park. 1971.

[mikenz 1,088]

Tisdall had a couple of good ones,Tom Pepper,Idolmite from Dunback

I read some more,someone's already mentioned Tisdall ok.

[JJ Flash 2,132]

15 hours ago, tasman man said:

was it jail ,abstainence or living overseas ?

Like you, i cant remember

[Keneperu 355]

On 3/11/2021 at 12:01 AM, tasman man said:

One extraordinary comparison is the betting differences .......back then there were three options...Win / Place ? Doubles.

Often the doubles .especially before concessions came in ,would pay very good money indeed.Often over $100 to $600 [300 pounds]

Minimum doubles bet was 5 bob or 50 cents.

Minimum Win/Place was 10 bob, half pound or $1.a Best  Bets was 10 shillings [ $1]with little info.

My  elder sister started work about 1966 as an Office junior in a law firm and was paid 8 pounds  [$16 ] a week. 2 pounds for board and 2 pounds for transport [bus and train]. Newspaper was 3 pence , Cigarettes were 1/3 [13 cents] for 10 , and 2/6 [25 cents] for 20.Fish and chips you got 2 fish and chips for 10 cents .3 fish and chips for 15c. In 1970 milk was still 4 cents a pint , petrol 39 cents a gallon [ie over 4.5 litres]. A couple of dollars went a long way ! In 1960's to save a shilling a week in bank was admirable.A $5 bonus bond by 1970 was a handy saving.

Most people had very little extra money for saving etc..........if you played sport....eg cricket few had their own bat or pads ...schools or clubs provided them .Same with Rugby shirts and sox.

By 1975 a 22 yr old with Uni degree would earn $80 week [$4k per yr].....Suits and nice coat for Southern chill could be over $100 each.Cloths expensive ,made them last !No cheap imports.

Between 1965 and 1975 inflation probably kicked in.

A new Mini Clubman [1100cc] cost $4,400 in 1976.

Travel overseas was comparatively expensive.....most never did or even considered it !Ditto things like going skiing .Appliances like TV's were expensive. Toasters were fixed as were most appliances. Houses were cold, [no insulation] even in South Island many houses only had a heater /fire in one or two rooms.

Owning HORSES was rare.....it was for people with farms or those with history with horses in family or big business owners or Publicans or Lawyers.

It was not for Joe Bloggs and even club membership was a bit elite , even when gate admission the norm !

Syndicating not even thought of as it would be wishful thinking to find many with spare money and collecting it would be a nightmare.

Winning a big race  was quite a boost for many outside of the huge owners.....certainly went a long way to making a decent investment eg house

Many trainers did other jobs during the day ...eg work at woollen mill etc, night shifts etc

Only the guys with big owners were full time ...or the top trainers who were often family businesses .

The good old days !

Great thread. All true and they were "good old days"

[We're Doomed 4,855]

On 3/12/2021 at 12:40 PM, JJ Flash said:

Pat Heffernan was another i remember albeit that his best horse  was in the late 70's Enterprise. Usually driven by PD Shand he won 23 times in 100 starts but alas not the time i had a large bet on him.

It was a 3yrd old race at  Waikouaiti and he was unbeaten at that stage. The back marker he swung around as the tapes were released and went the other way. I was in the poor house for a few weeks!!

Heffernan also had a good horse called Royal Illusion from memory. Both it and Enterprise driven on occasions by Phil Williamson if I recall correctly.

[Metroman 1]

Heffernan horses normally driven by Peter Shand