First Horse i backed

Bokked wrote: Craftsman in the Durban Merchants in 1982

I think it was also trained by Brian Cherry...


One hundred percent correct Pirates...Ralph Rixon...

Mettle trained by Tony Furness and ridden by Vic Curtis

Titch wrote: Mettle trained by Tony Furness and ridden by Vic Curtis

Great memory Titch...I used to like Vic Curtis because he invariably rode the number 1 horse...only later I realised it was because of his weight...by the same token...in those days...you could play the jackpot and PA...and take number 1 in each race...because of the race figure...

All correct re Craftsman..........both Rixon and Cherry trained it at one stage.



The first horse I punted was Brighter Days.....ridden by John Gorton......1967 (?)....

We were given it as a "good thing" by Johns, then fiancé.. (now wife).

I remember putting on R1.00 EW...and getting R2.20 back ...it was 1/10 and the Durban Turf club guaranteed R1.10 on any winning bet.........

1st horse i seriously (R5) backed was in 1982-3 @ Greyville and ridden by the AWESOME Jimmy Anderson. I can't recall the name but it was on Saturday and it followed my dad and all his punter mates discussing racing the next day at Greyville the night before at his hotel in kerk street jhb.

Every Friday night the toppies would meet up there work out their bets, play poker and eat and drink till the early morning hours. Some of them had connections and one of the connections somehow spoke to Anderson.
The horse was 16/10 and romped home. R8 profit was huge. A computaform was circa 50cents and a russian roll and coke was 80 cents.

That was the start for me into the best sport in the world. I met Jimmy many years later. Often people forget how good he was, how balanced he was and mostly how many dumpies he drank.

easy wrote: 1st horse i seriously (R5) backed was in 1982-3 @ Greyville and ridden by the AWESOME Jimmy Anderson. I can't recall the name but it was on Saturday and it followed my dad and all his punter mates discussing racing the next day at Greyville the night before at his hotel in kerk street jhb.

Every Friday night the toppies would meet up there work out their bets, play poker and eat and drink till the early morning hours. Some of them had connections and one of the connections somehow spoke to Anderson.
The horse was 16/10 and romped home. R8 profit was huge. A computaform was circa 50cents and a russian roll and coke was 80 cents.

That was the start for me into the best sport in the world. I met Jimmy many years later. Often people forget how good he was, how balanced he was and mostly how many dumpies he drank.

I never realised at the time... ...but a balanced rider he was...

The day Ice Clipper won a race called the Silent Partner South Easter Handicap at Milnerton
2/3 races later i backed Blushing Bess @ 7/1 great odds at the time

Bouquet Garni (the 1970's version as there has been another since) - trained by Reg van Minnen & ridden by Tom Rattley ( who achieved everlasting fame/notoriety by falling off Jamaican Music in the 1974 July. It was my very first bet on a racecourse in 1972(?) and it won..

I followed up by backing another winner in the very next race race - Andromeda; ridden by Bert Abercrombie & trained by Terrence Millard.

I thought it was an easy game. I soon learned otherwise.

johnnycomelately wrote: The day Ice Clipper won a race called the Silent Partner South Easter Handicap at Milnerton
2/3 races later i backed Blushing Bess @ 7/1 great odds at the time

Why i mentioned the race Ice Clipper won is because from about the 400m the commentary died :ohmy:

First 'winner' that springs to mind, Ding Dong winning the July (I think) - I was at school and for some reason took a liking to James Maree (listed in the papers those days a C Maree) - thought he would win with every horse he sat on :ohmy:

Probably a few before but Sir Ivor winning the Derby (1968) ? Comes to mind

Countrymember wrote: All correct re Craftsman..........both Rixon and Cherry trained it at one stage.



The first horse I punted was Brighter Days.....ridden by John Gorton......1967 (?)....

We were given it as a "good thing" by Johns, then fiancé.. (now wife).

I remember putting on R1.00 EW...and getting R2.20 back ...it was 1/10 and the Durban Turf club guaranteed R1.10 on any winning bet.........

I remember the time when 10% return was guaranteed but every time the likes of Sentinal ran all horses irrespective of their price would pay R1.10 a place