Aaron ‘Tommy’ Woodcock (1905–1985), horse strapper and trainer, was the son of a Cobb & Co driver and was close to horses from childhood. Apprenticed as a jockey at fourteen, he moved from the north coast of NSW to Randwick, where he won three of his first four starts.
Although he weighed just 32 kilos at sixteen, he eventually outgrew the job. Horses loved him, and in 1929, trainer Harry Telford asked him to care for Phar Lap full-time. The pair was inseparable; Woodcock often slept beside the beast, and legend has it that Phar Lap (or Bobby, as Woodcock called him) would not accept food from anyone else.
Phar Lap died at the age of six in California in 1932, Woodcock by his side. Woodcock had his own theory as to the cause of his death, but he never revealed it. In 1931, Woodcock gained his trainer’s licence; after working on the land during the war, he ran racehorses out of stables at Mentone and then Mordialloc.
Late in his career, Reckless, who won the Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane Cups, was prominent amongst his steeds. This photograph was taken before the 1977 Melbourne Cup, in which Reckless ran second to Bart Cumming’s Gold and Black.
In 1979, Woodcock was awarded an MBE for his racing services. He died at Yarrawonga.
The 1861 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race that took place on Thursday, 7 November 1861. This year was the first running of the Melbourne Cup. Fifty-seven horses were nominated, and 21 were accepted. Four were scratched on race day, leaving 17 starters.
Source: Portrait.gov.au Tommy Woodcock and Reckless1977 (printed 2010)Bruce Postle.
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