THURSDAY 23 NOVEMBER, OPTUS STADIUM, PERTH

Legend Status

Gabrielle Marie (Gai) Waterhouse AO (b. 1954)

Gai Waterhouse made history in 2007 as the first women to be inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. The well-deserved honour recognised not just her incredible achievements in racing, but also her position as a mentor and role model particularly to females throughout the industry. From the challenges faced in obtaining her licence in 1992, to becoming one of Australia’s most highly regarded trainers, her reputation and charisma have transcended racing making Gai Waterhouse a household name.

Dedication and hard work have resulted in seven Sydney trainers’ premierships, and more than 150 Group 1 wins including seven Metropolitan Handicaps, seven Doncaster Handicaps, seven Epsom Handicaps, seven Golden Slippers and a remarkable ten Flight Stakes. Champions of the calibre of More Joyous, Nothin’ Leica Dane, All Our Mob, Grand Armee and Pierro have passed through her stable, and her 2013 Melbourne Cup win with Fiorente, saw her become the second woman (and first Australian woman) to officially train the winner of the coveted prize.

Gai’s service to racing has been recognised and lauded beyond our sport. In 2018 she became a member of the Sports Australia Hall of Fame, and in 2021 was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for ‘distinguished service to the thoroughbred horse racing industry, particularly as a leading trainer, and as a role model for young women’.

Gai Waterhouse, the Queen of Australian Racing and a National Living Treasure, is a true ‘legend’ of our sport.

Clarence Edward (Clarry) Conners (b. 1946)

Based at Warwick Farm for more than 50 years, Clarry Conners trained a succession of champion thoroughbreds to claim four Golden Slipper Stakes, three VRC Oaks, and two triple crowns. From humble beginnings strapping for his father to obtaining his own trainer’s licence, Clarry’s career has been one of dedication and perseverance.

Conners claimed his first Group 1 win with Victory Prince in the 1984 AJC Sires Produce Stakes, renaming his stable “Victory Lodge” in honour of the horse. A stellar season for three-year-old filly Research culminated in her being named 1988–89 Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year. Tierce provided the first of four Golden Slipper Stakes wins in 1991, enroute to claiming Sydney’s two-year-old ‘triple crown’ of Golden Slipper, AJC Sires Produce and Champagne Stakes. The feat was repeated the following year with Burst who also became the first filly to claim the crown.

By the time Clarry Conners passed the milestone of 50 years as a trainer he had trained 38 Group 1 winners and racing had become a truly family affair: his wife, Maree, as stable manager; his late father a regular adviser and sons Marc and Heath, trainers in their own right.

Robert John (Bob) Peters (b. 1943)

More than five decades of meticulous attention to detail and bloodlines, sees Robert (Bob) Peters acknowledged as one of the most successful, influential breeders and owners of racehorses in Australia. He has also contributed to the sport significantly as a racing administrator.

A modest country upbringing, early business success and a passion for horses led Bob Peters to purchase his first thoroughbreds in 1973. He served 18 years on the Western Australian Turf Club committee, two years as Chairman and developed his Yalebra stud as a showpiece. Horses he bred and owned in company with his wife Sandra and as ‘Peters Investments Pty Ltd’ have won many of the great races of Australia, especially in his home state. Among his triumphs there have been a record 10 Perth Cups. No Group race in Perth has eluded him. Although proudly Western Australian, Bob Peters has always diversified, working with trainers and breeders nationally.

Francis Joseph (Frank) Treen (1930–1993)

In a riding career spanning 36 years, Frank Treen (1930-1993), was one of the greatest jockeys to come from his home state of Western Australia. Winning more than 2,000 races, including 51 metropolitan cups, five of which were claimed in Perth, Frank recorded major wins against the best riders in every state of Australia.

Raised in Albany, Western Australia, Frank left school at the first opportunity, and was mentored by Perth trainer Ted McAuliffe. A top apprentice in his first season and winning his first Perth Cup aged 18, he topped the Western Australian Metropolitan Jockey Premiership seven times and was eight times Premier Perth jockey. Frank is also remembered for achieving the remarkable feat of six wins and a second place from seven rides on a nine-race card at Perth’s Ascot racecourse in November 1967.

A track injury in 1958 sparked his interest in chiro-manipulative therapy, which he later applied successfully to humans and horses alike. Retiring in 1983, he returned to the saddle ten years later to win a veteran jockeys race at Perth’s Ascot.

Miss Andretti

From modest beginnings in rural Western Australia, Miss Andretti rose to become the fastest sprinter in the nation, earning the title of Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year in 2007 and joining the select few Australian racehorses to have won at Royal Ascot.

Owner-trainer David Mueller received the young filly as a gift, in exchange for a small stake if she ever won a race. He trained her for nine Western Australian wins from 13 starts, before selling a majority share and transferring her to trainer Lee Freedman for the remainder of her racing career. Craig Newitt was the jockey to ride Miss Andretti in all but one of her subsequent wins. These included the Group 1 Victoria Racing Club Lightning Stakes, Newmarket Handicap and Age Classic (Champions Sprint) and then the Grade 2 King’s Stand Stakes, Ascot. Over her four-year career she claimed 19 wins, 11 at Group level, and 5 placings from 31 starts.

Baguette

Baguette captured the attention of racing fans and entered Australian horse racing records in the 1969–70 racing season. Undefeated as a two-year-old with seven successive top class starts, he became the first to claim Sydney’s coveted two-year-old ‘triple crown’ of Golden Slipper, the Australian Jockey Club Sires Produce and Champagne Stakes.

As a three-year-old his winning streak extended to eight, with success in the Warwick Farm Hobartville Stakes. Victories in the rich Victoria Racing Club Newmarket Handicap and Doomben Ten Thousand, carrying more than weight for age, confirmed his champion status.

Owned and raced by his breeders Griff and Daisy Tait and trained at Randwick by Fil Allotta, Baguette was ridden in 11 of his 15 wins by George Moore. Retiring as a four-year-old to stand at stud in the Hunter Valley, his progeny included Golden Slipper winner Dark Eclipse, Hit It Benny and Crown Jester.

Emancipation

A striking grey sprinter known for her incredible burst of speed, Emancipation’s two-year racing career earned her a place amongst racing’s best. As a three-year-old, she was unbeaten in her first five races and then defeated champion Manikato to claim her first Group 1 win in the 1983 George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill Racecourse. Her victory later in the season in the Group 1 Doncaster Handicap was a rare achievement for a filly.

Raced by Bob Lapointe’s Muskoka Farm syndicate, trained by Hall of Fame trainer Neville Begg and ridden in all but one of her races by Hall of Fame jockey Ron Quinton, Emancipation’s 19 wins from 28 starts saw her claim the title of 1984 Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year.

Exceptional lineage that included Australian sprint champion stallion Bletchingly, damsire Australian turf hero Gunsynd, and great, great grandsire Man O’War guaranteed Emancipation’s value as a broodmare when she was retired to stud in New Zealand.

Spirit of Racing Award

Rod Kemp

The ultimate professional, Rodney “Rocket” Kemp 100 percent dedicated his life to being a jockey. Always a humble man and a gentleman, Kemp possessed innate judgement and could lift horses with his sheer strength. Champion apprentice in 1971-72 with 90 wins, 72 seconds and 75 thirds he went on to take out his first city jockeys’ premiership in 1980-81 with 51 wins. That year he was the state’s leading rider with 123 overall winners. Kemp won four titles in succession from 1983 until 1987, riding for trainers Brian “Buster” O’Malley and Ted Hickling, and in 1984-85 winning the Perth Cup on Phizam, Railway Stakes on Eastern Temple and the Australian Derby on Importune. It took fellow WA Racing Hall of Fame Inductee Paul Harvey (2014) in 1996-97 to break Kemp’s WA record riding 114 city winners and 165 winners overall.