Almanac Horseracing: A bad day at the Bell Races (1954)

 

It has been a little while since I have contributed to Footy Almanac, as I have been busy with a couple of local histories, one of which became “Bell Race Club Centenary – The Prettiest of Country Courses“. This is a reworking of one of the stories included in that book (which is available by contacting the Club Secretary through the Bell Race Club Facebook page).

The details were sourced from the Dalby Herald issues of the 4th and 7th May, 1954, through TROVE at the National Library Online

The race meeting on Saturday 1st May 1954 was a disaster for the Bell Amateur Turf Club.

What was set down as a six-race program ended up with only four races, three of which had four runners, and one with five. The Progressive Handicap was abandoned when the three nominated horses were all scratched. The Grassfed Improvers’ Handicap ended up as a walkover, with only one runner left in the field – and that wasn’t the only problem with that particular race.

When the walkover was announced, amateur rider Terry Smith simply had to take the remaining horse, Brown Ramp, onto the track, and canter down the straight. However, Smith was unable to make the weight, and Mr Brian Callaghan of Blaxland was substituted.

Even on his own in the paddock, Brown Ramp became unsettled and put on a bad-tempered display and tried to remove the rider by bucking. This continued until the horse fell, with Callaghan trapped between him and the only tree in the paddock.

Brown Ramp regained his feet, but Callaghan’s foot was caught in a stirrup as the horse headed for the gate. There was an audible intake of breath from the spectators as they could see what was happening. The horse lashed out at the rider, but missed him. Callaghan fell clear, and Brown Ramp went double-barrelled, and kicked out at the rider’s rolling body with both feet, narrowly missing him again.

Those in the mounting yard rushed to his aid, and were relieved to see he had escaped serious injury despite the fact he had been exposed to three incidents in a matter of seconds. He was immediately treated for a laceration to the back of the head, and for shock. After assuring friends and onlookers he was all right, he became distressed and was on the point of collapse. Callaghan was then placed on a stretcher and taken by car to Dalby, 21 miles away (in the old money; 35km nowadays) for medical attention. He went home later.

The Stipendiary Steward in charge of the meeting, R. J. Roberts, refused to allow Brown Ramp to be taken onto the track in light of what had just occurred, but trainer K. Hale mounted the horse, and after “taking some of the life out of him” (we can imagine what that might mean), rode him around the track.

Terry Smith, who was supposed to ride Brown Ramp, while upset at what his friend, Brian Callaghan, had been through, was relieved that he himself had been spared the ordeal.

Bookmakers were unhappy that not only were there just the four races, but that three well-supported favourites won the first three races. Nanango Lass won the Maiden at 2/1 on; Lady Roseneath won the Lightning Handicap, also at 2/1 on; and Gold Plane got home at 5/4 in the Improvers’ Handicap. In the main race the favourite, High Crest, was beaten, but punters had supported the winner, Macko, at 3/1 and 2/1 because the the short price on the favourite (3/1 on) had them looking elsewhere. When the last two races were abandoned, the bookmakers lost their chance to “get square”.

The Club was bitterly disappointed at how the day had turned out, after being a promising meeting on paper. It was a good day though for jockeys M Gerrard and Mick Lenihan who each managed to ride a double.

A programming clash might have been part of the problem for the Bell Club. The following Wednesday and Thursday, the Dalby Amateurs conducted one of their big meetings for the year and, with the exception of one race on each day, had very large fields. There were more than 120 starters over the two days. How big was the Dalby meeting? Well, on the Wednesday 22 bookmakers were operating, and on Thursday there were 32. You’d be hard-pressed to find that many bookies in all of south-eastern Queensland nowadays.

One of the starters at the Dalby meeting was Brown Ramp. In fact, he was three of the starters, racing once on Wednesday, and twice on Thursday. A 7th of 17 in the Ladies Bangle on Wednesday was followed by a 6th of 12 in the Rosalie Stakes (for grassfed horses) on Thursday. Finally, he ran 7th of 12 in the Lynley Flutter (for grass-fed horses who have started at, but did not win, at the meeting). Interestingly, neither Terry Smith nor Brian Callaghan were on board Brown Ramp at Dalby. He had three different jockeys in the three races: P. Sims, Henricks and Williams.

 

 

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