A SO WELL DESERVED PHILPOT FAMILY CELEBRATION

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, August 18, 2026

It is forty-two years since that fateful day on August 18, 1984 when the Fine Cotton ring-in at Eagle Farm was exposed and erupted as a racing scandal that will forever live in infamy.

Fine Cotton, of course, was not there. A horse named Bold Personality was substituted in an attempted sting which turned out to be so amateurish in planning and implementation that the dye used for altering Bold Personality’s colouring and the white paint meant to present the horse with ‘socks’ to resemble to real Fine Cotton, ironically, was the immediate cause of their schemes failure as the horse returned to scale dripping dye and paint after sweating from his race exertions, revealing that the ‘winner’ had been disguised, was a ring-in, and that the game was up.

Fast forward forty-two years and what a great moment it was at Doomben on Saturday when Montana Philpot was greeted by her father at the winners’ enclosure after riding the first of her two winners on the card. The hug, the kiss, the tears were all as much part of a quiet refection on life as it was one of a celebration of victory … a moment the Philpot family so deserved after all they had gone through over a long period of time.

Gus Philpot, whose pride in his daughter was so obvious to see in that Doomben embrace, was an apprentice jockey when he rode ‘Fine Cotton’ back on August 18, 1984. Philpot was quickly and completely cleared of any involvement in the ring-in scandal, but, by association, that drama took a heavy toll on his career which then struggled to gain the kind of momentum that might otherwise have been forthcoming for a young rider with the ambition to do well.

That was a moment to forget for Gus Philpot.
Celebrating Montana Philpot’s first Saturday Metropolitan riding double was a day out to remember … and one which was representative of the resilience the family have shown over the years.

Nine years ago, Gus, Montana and Montana’s sister Jessie (a fellow jockey), had to overcome the unthinkable, the death of the Donna Philpot (a wife and mother) in a trackwork accident in June 2017. There is no question that she too would have been proud of Montana’s race-to-race success at Doomben and that she was also remembered in that moment.

On a completely different and lesser level, but one which could also have stopped Montana Philpot in her tracks, an on-going run of injuries ranging from, amongst others, a broken pelvis to collar-bone breaks that required reconstruction, would have dented the enthusiasm of a person with lesser resolve, but Philpot hardly blinked. She was always going to get back into the saddle.

Watch the replays of her two wins on Saturday. Look at her timing and her judgement in those two come from behind victories. Looks at her seat, her balance and his oneness with her horse that only above average jockeys can provide.

That’s all in plain sight.

What not every race-goers sees though is the quite incredible attitude Montana Philpot brings to the game. It is so positive it is infectious … the smile, her easy to laugh nature all just exudes a genuine enjoyment of her being able to do what she loves to do.

To have that positive personality outward personality backed by an inner strength and determination which has already defied the odds on more than one occasion, is an amazing character trait which can only serve Philpot well moving forward.

And she is moving forward … at an eye-catching level, in fact, which suggests a wider range of opportunities than she has enjoyed to date might, deservingly, be coming her way in the near future.

Philpot is clearly ready for that, but she is also appreciative of her current position.

As she said at Doomben, “I didn’t think I would get this emotional. Dad’s definitely done it for me.

"That’s my first double in the city. It’s been a journey getting here because I feel like I’ve gone through a fair bit, so it is really special to be here now.”

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