An impromptu reunion at Monday’s Wallabadah meeting rekindled some wonderful memories of racing days long past for a group of former jockeys.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ray Lamb, Russell Stokes, Barry Gatenby, Pat Johns and Peter Underwood all rode at the iconic New Years Day meeting - which was this year celebrating 166 years - throughout the 70s and 80s.
“We hadn’t seen each other for years and just ran into each other,” Gatenby said.
They recalled living together in the pavilion at the Quirindi Racecourse when legendary Gunnedah trainer Arthur Gore moved his stables to Quirindi.
They enjoyed varying levels of success at the meeting over the years, with Gatenby, Stokes and Lamb all riding Cup winners.
The last to hang up his crop, riding at Wallabadah from 1977 through to 2006, Gatenby had winners with Leyton Vale in 1991 and Amundsen in 1995.
Lamb won back to back Cups with Mynheer in 1980 and Lop’s Boy in 1981.
The year he won on Lop’s Boy, he also won the ‘fly’ - a flying open handicap.
“The fly was probably the first race and the cup the fourth or fifth,” he recalled.
In those days it wasn’t uncommon for horses to race more than once at a meeting.
Stokes denied the Gunnedah hoop a trifecta of Cups, riding Quito to victory in 82 with Lamb second.
Lamb reflected on his days at Wallabadah as highlights of his over two decades in the saddle, after taking up an apprenticeship with Gore.
As Lamb simply put it - he was small enough to be a jockey and “needed a job”.
“It was just something you did and you loved it,” he said.
He hadn’t attended a Wallabadah meeting since he retired as a jockey in the mid-80s.
“I hadn’t been to the races for years so thought I’d come back and I ran into all these fellas,” he said.
Johns, Gatenby and Underwood are all Quirindi locals, while Stokes hails from Kurri Kurri.
Johns and Underwood are still involved in the meeting.
Both are part of the crew that keeps things ticking along on race day, with Underwood working the barriers and Johns helping out Sky Channel.