Old Trots Bookies NamesHarness & Greyhounds

JayJay

Sunday night on 6pr and on Apple Podcast....Remember When with Harvey Deegan and Ernie Manning...special guest this week is Chariots. Around 8.30pm I think...but check your local guide, as they say. Chariots will have plenty of stories I would think.

bookielover

PictureSon1973 said:

Just a matter of opinion but has the demise of Bookmakers on course diminished the Racing
Experience and how much would you think it’s affected on course numbers.

There's no doubt that the demise of a strong, vibrant betting ring, has meant that it's a pretty boring day at the track if you are a bloke like me who was around during "the good old days."

Watching the battle between the big bookies and punters. Seeing horses go off and the general public rushing at bookies in an attempt to get on the at the best odds. The banter between bookie and punter. The huge amounts of cash , made for a fantastic day at the track.

I remember a farmer from Ouyen in Victoria, that's what he told me was, coming up to my old man, pulling $30,000 cash out of his pockets and plonking it on Red Anchor in the Derby at 4/6. It was the easiest 20 large the bloke ever earned and we never saw him again. Then there was the bloke who came up to my dad and had  $35,000 to $10,000 on in cash, that's 2/7, at Moonee valley a horse trained by Geoff Murphy, I can't remember it's name, you'd think I would. It was a 7 horse field and it finished fourth. We were losing $20,000 coming to that race. thank heavens for odds on chances!

The point about those two bets, is not just the bets themselves, but the fact that as we were counting out the cash, a crowd gathered around just to watch it. And we weren't the only bookie who people came up to and put loads of cash on. 

That was part of the excitement of being there for the punter. You could imagine the average bloke telling his mates at work on a Monday. "You should have seen the money that those bookies were getting. They had bags full of it. I saw them counting thousands. No wonder they drive Mercedes's. " Of course, those same people never went around the corner to the payout positions.

In Perth, I saw big bets taken in both the Eastern States Ring and local ring at Ascot when I used to come over for business around 1988/1990. And there was plenty of decent betting at that time at the trots. About the only place that was gone even back then, was Cannington. I can only recall two bookies working there, one was Weir, and I can't remember the other one.

I'm looking forward to coming over for the racing carnival. I'll be there for the whole month of November. I've got no idea how many bookies will be operating at Ascot. Hopefully, there will be some excitement generated in the ring because of the meetings being run and the crowds that will attend. Unfortunately, the crowds nowadays consist of young men and women who go there to get drunk, and wouldn't know the horses head from its tale.

The wife and I are also looking forward to going to GP. We always enjoy a night there, and there are some good meetings programmed, so Steve Mulhall , a really nice bloke, might work and I always like to give him a bet. I'll be relying on the tips provided here to send him broke!!

JayJay

Radio program went ahead on 6PR with Chariots and Ernie recalling early days .....some that got a mention were the "Prince Brino" replacement driver episode at York for Bill Horn, the "Whistleblower"Plunge, the Gleaming plunge and Red Gum when Arthur "Buck" Jones was temporarily "indisposed".....a balance problem, he fell out of the cart.... and was replaced enabling a very successful raid on the Bookies bags. Rod Evans got a mention (as a winning driver at GP which may surprise a few) after a successful plunge enabled him to buy the Carlton Hotel. Rod of course owned many pacers prior to his thoroughbred exploits with Allegation.....Kodak and Kodon were full brothers that were highly successful horses for "Mrs V.P. Evans" in the stables of Pop Johnson and driven by Max. A long list of bookies names were mentioned along with some of their history. Only issue was the program didn't go on for long enough. Podcast available at 6PR under the title "Remember When" with Harvey Deegan and Ernie Manning for those interested. Had some race replays in their as well. Good work from Chariots who named Mount Eden as his best ever along with a story on Our Ian Mac and a monstrous bet that he laid.

PictureSon1973

I don’t know if Chariots was still a Bookmaker when I heard of this but I remember
watching the old Friday Night Live on Channel 31 with Marty & Wes.
I recall that on 1 night and only ever heard about this on air that a Punter was betting
$50 000 + on track in a number of races @ G.P does anyone recall the occasion ?

I’m cer p

Chariotsonfire

There was a correlation between WAFL league footballers and bookmaking with the following:

Lindsay Kanther - Claremont - 146 games

Ray Lucev - West Perth - 100

Bob Howat - West Perth - 98

Neville Hebbard - West Perth 97

John Sarre - Subiaco - 81

Charlie Osmetti - South Fremantle - 64

and the poor relation

Ross Cooper - Swan Districts 6

We also had umpire Clive Hills and prominent bookmakers clerks Ken Holt, John Wynne and Keth Shorthill.

Markovina

John Greening - the champion Collingwood footballer - he was a bookmaker 

Chariotsonfire

My list was WA only but many more in Victoria and Tasmania.

I have not included Simon Beasley in my list as he never fielded in WA.

JayJay

Or any SP lads from days gone by.....and there were quite a few, especially in Vic Park and Freo.
:))