Almanac Local History – Pine Ridge Cemetery Coburg: Reginald Bell (1899-1913) – Promising child jockey

 

Following on from Allan Barden’s excellent article in which he reflects on the cultural and historical significance of cemeteries generally, and discusses what they mean to us, and tell us, he presents the lives of a number of Australian sportsmen buried in the  Pine Ridge Cemetery Coburg. Promising child jockey Reginald Bell is amongst those buried there.

 

Allan Barden acknowledges the work of Kelly Morgan who provided the research and wrote the notes about the many sportsmen buried in the cemetery presented by him in his article.

 

REGINALD BELL

1899-1913

 

Tragic story of a promising child jockey from a strong horse-racing family

(Notes researched and written by Kelly Morgan)

 

 

Reg was the youngest child of Edward Spencer Braham and Rachel Bell, born in May 1899. From a young age Reg was a rising star in the horse racing world, born into a prominent racing family at the time, with most of the men before and after him making a name for themselves as bookies, journalists, trainers and jockeys.

 

Despite being so young, it is said that Reg had been riding confidently since the age of two. He had ridden in over 100 hundred races. Among his rides were many triumphant wins including the Geelong St. Patrick’s Day meeting in 1911 and what was to be his last win riding Gold Braid, his father’s horse, at Moonee Valley, on June 28 1913. The Bell family would regularly attend the race meetings of Melbourne. In Reg’s day there were racing tracks in Fitzroy, Mordialloc, Heidelberg, Brighton, Richmond. Replaced now by hotels, train stations, football ovals and housing, few have remained.

 

‘Little Bell’ as he was affectionately called was a smart, well-behaved boy, and was a favourite with his fellow jockeys and followers of racing. He was apprenticed to his brother, Edward Alan Bell, who was himself a well-known jockey and trainer. Edward was inducted into the Victorian Racing Club’s hall of fame in 2017.

 

Sadly, on 20 August 1913 while riding his father’s horse, a filly named Balvenie in the Maiden Plate at Moonee Valley, Reg took a tragic fall on the closing straight. An inquiry from the stipendiary stewards concluded that Balvenie had stumbled due to galloping on another horse’s hoof, leading to a devastating chain of events. Reg was seriously injured with a fractured skull, broken nose and concussion. Edward Snr. said the fall was of natural occurrence, due to the racing horses overcrowding when merging coupled with the fact that Balvenie was an unseasoned runner.

 

It was a long and agonising seven days for his family and the racing community held its breath, hoping for Reg’s miraculous recovery. Yet, it was not to be as 110 years ago in the early hours of August 27th, 2013 the racing prodigy tragically passed away at a private hospital in Moonee Ponds.

 

 

To return to the www.footyalmanac.com.au  home page click HERE

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?
And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help keep things ticking over please consider making your own contribution.

 

Become an Almanac (annual) member – CLICK HERE