An impromptu reunion with some long lost riding mates was a delightful bonus for former Gunnedah jockey Ray Lamb when he attended his first Wallabadah Cup for almost 30 years.
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He hadn’t been back to the annual New Years Day meeting he rode at for 11 years since he retired as a jockey in the mid-80s.
“I hadn’t been to the races for years so thought I’d come back and I ran into all these fellas,” he said.
He was referring to fellow hoops Russell Stokes, Barry Gatenby, Pat Johns and Peter Underwood.
Johns, Gatenby and Underwood are all Quirindi locals, while Stokes hails from Kurri Kurri.
They recalled living together in the pavilion at the Quirindi Racecourse when legendary Gunnedah trainer Arthur Gore moved his stables to Quirindi.
Gunnedah born and bred, Lamb spent around two decades in the saddle and rode at Wallabadah between 1972 and 1983, enjoying considerable success over that time at the iconic meeting.
He won back to back Cups with Mynheer in 1980 and Lop’s Boy in 1981.
The year he won on Lop’s Boy, he also won the ‘fly’ - a flying open handicap.
“The fly was probably the first race and the cup the fourth or fifth,” Lamb recalled.
In those days it wasn’t uncommon for horses to race more than once at a meeting.
He finished second in the Cup the following year to Stokes and Quito.
Gatenby was the last of the group to hang his crop up.
He rode at Wallabadah from 1977 through to 2006 and had winners with Leyton Vale in 1991 and Amundsen in 1995.
Lamb started his racing career as an apprentice to Gore.
As he simply put it - he was small enough to be a jockey and “needed a job”.
“It was just something you did and you loved it,” he said.
Johns and Underwood are still involved in the meeting.
Both are part of the crew that keeps things ticking along on race day, with Underwood working the barriers and Johns helping out Sky Channel.
