Riders Carry Heavy Hearts For Mr Jack
The Age
Thursday August 7, 2003
Jockey Darren Gauci carried extra at Sandown yesterday - a black armband over the all-cerise colours of Jack and Bob Ingham, Australia's biggest racehorse owners and breeders.
``Mr Jack", who had a rare blood disorder, died on Tuesday aged 75. Barely 24 hours later stable representatives took his horses to the races at Sandown, Canterbury (Sydney) and Doomben (Brisbane). As planned.
The business of racing continues - immediately, in the short term and, hopefully, in the long term as the breeding and racing business of Woodlands Stud is handed to the next generation.
Flags were at half-mast at Sandown. A minute's silence was held before the first race. And riders joined Gauci in adding armbands to their colours.
The Ingham horses are trained by John Hawkes and Gauci is the stable rider in Melbourne. Two three-year-olds ran at Sandown, Reporters finishing seventh in race two and Sigishoara second in the next race.
Neither will reach the heights of Ingham favourites Octagonal and Lonhro.
Gauci, who described Ingham as a truly remarkable Australian, said: ``My most vivid memory of Jack will be last Golden Slipper day (in April).
``He was terribly ill and had to force himself to get to Rosehill. He loved his racing and it gave him such a buzz when those all-cerise colours would go over the line first."
Sandown provided no winner. Nor did Canterbury, where the one runner, Mesh, bled and was banned for three months.
The day's bright moment was at Doomben, Macaroons winning a class-three sprint. Scott Galloway said on dismounting: ``As we were coming down the running I said, `This one's for you, Jack.' "
Gauci said the silence and armbands were ways for racing to honour Ingham for what he'd given. ``He's always had the common touch. Regardless of where you came from or what you did, Jack always had time for you," he said.
``He was a fabulous man to ride for . . . as so many jockeys have commented, if you made a mistake on one of Jack's horses he'd come and pat you on the back and say, `We'll do better next time.' "
The Melbourne Racing Club will honour Ingham again at Sandown on Saturday with the Jack Ingham Handicap.
His funeral will be at Sydney's St Andrew's Cathedral on Tuesday. When it was announced at Canterbury that a wake at Randwick racecourse would follow the service, a racegoer yelled: ``They'll get more to Big Jack's wake than to most midweek meetings." -- with agencies
© 2003 The Age