Racing Around the Globe

Filed in Sports Recent by July 2, 2016

By Harley Walden

Harley Walden, racing coloumnist

Harley Walden, racing coloumnist

WHEN Peter Snowden packed-up his wife and young family he was bound for Sydney and into unchartered waters for a man who had started his racing career as a stable-hand, jockey and trainer in the bush he was about to join Crown Lodge, one of the biggest racing stables in the southern hemisphere.
As John Hawkes put the finishing touches on Crown Lodge’s trio of stars for the 2001 Golden Slipper he paid tribute to the man who keeps his stable in full stride, Peter Snowden, “They don’t come any better”, he said.
Today that man who once rode a battered pushbike to work at the Scone saw- mill has carved his own niche in the racing world.
Approaching the end of their second full season of training together, Peter and Paul Snowden have produced enough winners this term to be challenging former employer Godolphin.
After a long and successful association with Godolphin, then known as Darley, the father-son duo left the international operation to form their own training brand – Snowden Racing.
In the subsequent two years, the expansion of Snowden Racing has been remarkable. In 2014-15, they saddled up 376 starters for 67 winners, which saw them finish seventh on the New South Wales trainers’ premiership.
With the current season drawing to a close, the Snowden’s have already bettered that mark, closely trailing their replacement at Godolphin – John O’Shea.
While the stable has virtually doubled in size over the past 12 months, Paul Snowden maintains that it would not have been possible without the backing of major buyers at the yearling sales.
“We’ve been the beneficiary of some very nice horses purchased at sales, “Paul Snowden said.
“We’ve also had plenty of luck and have our many owners to thank for that.”
The Snowden’s are closing in on a whopping 25 juvenile races this term but Snowden estimates that it is largely due to two-year-olds being the prevailing age group in the stable.
“We’re still a young stable, 80 percent of our horses are two-year-olds, “said Paul Snowden.
“We don’t have the four, five or six-year-olds in our stable yet but hopefully those younger horses will carry the stable through over the next few years.”
Next year the selling agent of William Inglis will create two new milestones, it will be the last yearling sale held at the famous Newmarket Complex at Randwick as the sales move to their new home at Warwick Farm.
Next year, 2017, will mark 150 years of William Inglis and Son, Australia’s biggest bloodstock selling agent.
From the selling of utility horses at premises in Pitt Street, Sydney, the firm has come to specialise in the selling of thoroughbreds.
Cattle, sheep and other farm stock still have their place in the firm’s activities.
It all began somewhere in Pitt Street when the original William Inglis set up a general auctioneering business.
Soon the undertaking had expanded until it occupied a block extending from Pitt Street – just about opposite the present School of Arts – to Castlereagh Street.
Thoroughbred yearlings were sold at Randwick at the turn of the century in conjunction with T. S. Clibbon, but other thoroughbreds were still sold at Pitt Street.
Sydney’s growing traffic soon created problems, and the horse bazaar was moved to Camperdown. Then the chance came to purchase the late Tom Payten’s stables at Randwick in 1918.
Bit by bit other premises were bought until to-day the “Newmarket Stables” cover 10 acres, devoted entirely to selling thoroughbreds.
Now with the green-light given a new precinct will be built at Warwick Farm housing a multipurpose selling arena, parade ring and 12 open-sided horse stabling buildings which will accommodate nearly 900 horse stalls.
There will also be a hotel on site with 145 rooms and basement parking area.
From what I can gather the Newmarket Complex at Randwick will be sold-off for housing development.
Some of the cottages surrounding the stables are heritage listed as are a number of trees and will be maintained as is the “Big Stable” which featured in the making of the movie “Phar Lap”.
I happened to come across this anecdote from the book “Mac Bridge, The Man and His Recollections.
In the early years the police officer in charge at Scone was Senior Sargent John Coady.
He had two sons Vincent and Joe, who near the turn of the nineteenth century, were two of Scone’s prominent Rugby Union players.
Joe joined the priesthood and became Parish Priest at Maitland. Reared in Scone, he became a lover of horses.
In 1913, after Posinatus won the Melbourne Cup and retired from the turf, Joe accepted the horse as a present and used him for short journeys around the parish in preference to an automobile.

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