Fox received the Bede Thomas Services to Racing Award, named after the former Inverell Jockey Club president who gave many years work to maintain country racing.

The award to Fox recognised his almost 60 years of participation in racing, with him demonstrating the highest level of skill, horsemanship and integrity.

Inverell jockey Rachael Murray was the leading jockey in the Hunter and North West for 2016-17. 

Fox rode his first winner in 1957 and on his last day as a jockey in June 1989, he rode three winners to give him a remarkable career of 1572 winners from 6,046 rides in an age in racing when country meetings were only on Saturdays or public holidays.

He holds a record as the last jockey to ride the same horse to win two races on the same day on a metropolitan track – achieving the feat on Gold Fiddle at Warwick farm on October 24, 1962.

In 1973 he become one of the pioneers for many Australians by travelling to Hong Kong and being part of the establishment of a professional racing industry.

In his Hong Kong career from 1973 until 1980 he rode the winner of the feature Queen Elizabeth Cup and HK Champions Charter Cup.

The rider of Winx, Hugh Bowman, was present on the night and Fox was thrilled to compare notes with Bowman, pointing out they were both “bushies” who had won the same feature races in Hong Kong 40 years apart.

While in Hong Kong, Leon rode against outstanding riders such as Lester Piggot, Pat Eddery, Geoff Lewis, Geoff Lane, US legend Willie Carson as well as current Hong Kong trainers John Moore and Tony Cruz.

Fox resumed riding in the North West after returning from Hong Kong and despite his difficulty with weight, he continued to maintain his remarkable strike rate for winners before turning his hand to training a small team at Inverell.

He became the first person to win an Inverell Cup as both a jockey and a trainer when Tree Lopper won the 2005 Cup, and had his last runner as a trainer in 2011.

The award came as a surprise to Fox, who was at the awards ostensibly to present Murray with her gpng. 

Murray had a record-breaking season, riding 118 winners state wide and becoming the first female jockey to break the century of wins in NSW. 

Her achievement reflect her great determination to make a success of her career and her willingness to travel endless kilometres day after day.

She had 844 rides in the season and her mounts won over $2.4 million in prize money.