John Tapp Racing

Nineteen years have passed since Stan Aitken called time on his successful riding career. The multiple Gr 1 winning jockey continued to work in the racing industry as a groundsman for the Ballarat Race Club until his retirement a few years ago. Stan clearly recalls his final ride in the Ararat Gold Cup of 2003. He talks of his decision to quit when opportunities dried up. He looks back on his work...

Mark Newnham’s career story is one of a young bloke who held on to his dream like a dog with an old boot. From the first day his father took him to the races, young Newnham knew he wanted a future with horses. He says his passion has never waned. Mark talks of the difficulties of running a dual operation at Randwick and Warwick Farm. He was relieved when more boxes became available at headquarters...

Racing historian Dennis Najim recently sent me audio recordings of some of Galilee’s memorable wins in Melbourne in the  mid 1960’s. The NZ bred stayer dominated the Victorian Spring carnival of 1966 winning the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups in dominant fashion. The following autumn Galilee trounced his opposition in the Sydney Cup becoming the first horse to win the big treble in the same season-...

After a wonderfully successful decade training from his Murwillumbah base, Matt Dunn surprised a few people when he elected to open a metropolitan stable. The first negative was his ineligibility for the weekly TAB Highways which he’d dominated since their inception in 2015. Matt talks about the numbers in his Rosehill and Murwillumbah stables. He acknowledges the contribution of Holly Julius who...

I caught up with John Wade at the recent Jockeys Reunion and the idea of a podcast immediately sprang to mind. He’s not the kind of bloke to talk about his many achievements in the saddle, but happily I was able to pin him down. John is now in his early 70’s, lives on the Gold Coast and works full time for a Pathology Company.  He tells us more about the job and the enormous number of miles he tra...

Enjoy nothing more than heading “bush” for our podcast chats. This week we go to Big River Country to catch up with Grafton trainer Dwayne Schmidt who operates a twenty horse operation from Grafton. After a successful training stint in Queensland, Dwayne headed back to NSW when the track problems at Eagle Farm persisted. He admits he was sorry to leave Brisbane. Dwayne says he strongly considered...

Had Greg Radley not tried his hand as a radio presenter in Brisbane and Sydney he may still be calling races in the Hunter Valley where it all began thirty five years ago. His curiosity about other avenues of sports media saw him develop a special talent as a presenter and interviewer. Today he’s the polished professional who hosts several key Sky Thoroughbred Central programmes. We talk to Greg a...

You can’t say Neil Paine has created a trend with his wardrobe of colourful outfits because nobody else has followed a similar path. Unperturbed he’ll continue to set the pace in his role as race day manager for the Waterhouse/Bott yard. Neil joins us on the podcast to talk about his riding career and his current role. He explains the origins of the race day apparel. Neil reflects on the Noumea ra...

Great to catch up with trainer Nick Olive who looks like surviving yet another Canberra winter. Nick takes us back to the fateful day when his father took him and brother Tim to a Canberra race meeting. He says the die was cast on that very day. The trainer talks of his recent Covid 19 isolation. Nick agrees with some fellow ACT trainers who don’t wish to train anywhere else despite some concernin...

Received a surprise email from Harry Troy who says he’s a regular listener to our podcasts in Macau. It suddenly struck me that we hadn’t recorded a chat with this man. What a diversified life he’s had as a bookie’s clerk, jockey, publisher and long time Macau race caller.  We begin by looking back on the riding contract that first took him to Macau in 1997. Harry looks back on his decision to qui...

An overdue chat with an astute horse trainer and one of racing’s true characters. Lindsey took a giant step in 2019 when he opened a business at Warrnambool, but left his WA stables operating under the supervision of a trusted lieutenant. He talks of his delight in being able to combine the two operations to win more than 100 races in each of the last three seasons. Lindsey talks of his use of hea...

Great to catch up with a horseman whose name appears regularly among winning trainers at Southern Districts meetings, and occasionally in the city. Students believe Norm Gardner’s strike rate in recent years is a very healthy one. We talk to Norm about some of his recent winners, and the disadvantage of training horses in the bitter Canberra winters. Norm talks of retired Canberra jockey Kevin Swe...

Chad Lever’s sudden disappearance from the riding ranks last September mystified trainers, punters and friends. The popular jockey had been juggling a huge workload for several years to honour commitments on the provincial and country circuit. Ten months ago he knew he’d have to take a break before his health suffered. Chad explains that he’s been able to control his weight by riding trackwork and...

It’s great to catch up with the ever ebullient Dr Geoff Chapman who slipped quietly into retirement four years ago, after a life of achievement and great diversity. Geoff begins by talking about his return to the medical profession after terminating his training career. He looks back on his early years at Cobar and his family’s move to a property on the outskirts of Dubbo. Geoff talks of five happ...

The moment news of Ray’s retirement hit the airwaves it became a priority to lock him in for a podcast. After all I have known the man for fifty four years, and we spent a lot of time together in his early days with the 2GB Macquarie team. His journey in Australian sports media has been a fascinating one- from a humble start as a harness racing commentator on Riverina tracks, to the upper echelon...

Great to catch up with the girl who left her busy father a note to ask for her first pony. Robert Murray agreed, and the first stone was laid on the path to his daughter’s career as a respected professional jockey. Rachael’s on the injured list at the moment otherwise she would have been difficult to pin down for an interview. She looks back on the day she left that note on the kitchen table. Rach...

It’s a pity we didn’t get to talk to Kim about her stunning Rosehill double with French Bonnet and Kingsheir on Saturday. This interview was recorded the previous day shortly after she’d arrived home from the Gosford trials. Kim talks about the frustration trainers are experiencing with the neverending run of wet tracks in Sydney.  She talks about the twenty hectare property at Jilliby where all o...

Great to catch up with Barry Lockwood who’s back on deck following two unrelated health issues. The talented horseman talks openly about his serious cancer scare, and the loss of a toe as a result of a golden staph infection. His famous sense of humour is never far away. Barry pays tribute to son Rick who ran the stable during his father’s lengthy hospitalisation.  He talks of his relocation from...

When Cliff Brown arrived in Singapore in 2008 equine virus had paralysed the racing industry in most parts of eastern Australia. It was nine months before Cliff was able to transport Aussie horses to his new training base. After a tardy start he went on to enjoy 13 fruitful years in Singapore. He talks of the endless Covid lockdown which brought him back to Australia last year. Cliff looks back on...

James Heddo thought he was in need of a change of career direction when he resigned from the ATC Executive team in 2020. He found that. change in the hospitality industry, spending some 15 months as CEO of the Terrigal Bowling Club. He hadn’t factored in the withdrawal symptoms associated with leaving the racing industry after 33 years. Few were surprised when he was recently appointed as CEO of t...

“He always seems to have a handy horse in the stable”, is an old racing adage which traditionally applies to smaller racing stables. Steve Englebrecht has been one of those trainers for most of his forty year career. The semi retired horseman has only two horses in work currently, but both can gallop. He talks about his promising three year old filly Chilko Lake. Steve talks about the filly’s sire...

Great to catch up with a very switched on trainer who has sailed past the 1000 career win tally. Joe explains that he discourages owners from keeping horses who are not paying their way. He talks of his non racing family background and the early punting involvement that sparked his love of racing. Joe talks about the Psychology Degree he embarked upon at Sydney University. His parents were displea...

Thoroughly enjoyed my chat with Sheila Laxon ONZM who’s now training in tandem with her partner John Symons on the Sunshine Coast. Welsh born Sheila was riding ponies on the family farm at age three, a precursor to a fascinating life with horses.  She begins by recalling her first meeting with John Symons when she brought Ethereal over for the 2001 Victorian spring carnival. Sheila says John was t...

Despite missing the first month of the current racing season, Brooke Stower finds herself in 15th spot on the NSW jockey’s premiership ladder with over three months to go. Brooke spent a full year on the sidelines after a freakish accident at Grafton in 2020. Her comeback has been one of the best racing stories in recent years. We talk to the Tamworth based jockey about the endless miles she trave...

After a brief career as an apprentice jockey and an even briefer one in the harness racing sport, Kevin Kemp acquired his thoroughbred trainer’s license in1975. He worked another job for two years before focusing full time on a career which has taken him to the top bracket of Queensland’s training ranks.  Kev talks about a couple of his most recent winners Winter Rain and  Mishani Mistress. He men...