MY CALL - SAYING GOODBYE TO 'NATURE'S GENTLEMAN'
By David Fowler | Tuesday, April 8, 2014
David Fowler is the principal thoroughbred caller for Radio TAB. David, who is a keen form student and punter, has enjoyed a lifetime involvement in the racing media. His personal blog, ‘My Call’, appears exclusively on HRO.
The contribution of Larry Pratt to Queensland racing should not be underestimated.
And I'm not referring to hungry young cadets devouring the cooking of Larry's wife Val which he would dutifully bring to the Telegraph offices each morning.
I was saddened when I heard of Larry's passing at 78 on the weekend. I worked alongside him for six years at the afternoon newspaper The Telegraph until its closure in 1988.
And, yes, Val's rissoles were rippers.
While Larry's contribution to the Telegraph is noted, it was his position with the ABC that made him a household name during the sixties and seventies.
The weekly Saturday night review of the Brisbane races on Channel 2 was often more recognized for the verbal jesting between Larry and host Peter Meares than the coverage of the races themselves.
Such prominence for racing on free-to-air sadly doesn't exist these days.
Larry became a regular in the lounge room each weekend. And his race calling on the radio arm delivered descriptions to far flung places that commercial networks could not service.
His war with the ABC over their axing of race broadcasts in the mid-eighties was a long and bloody battle. I have little doubt it played a part in his heart surgery of 1987.
His public following was also played out in his tipping. He "found" Spedito both times in the 1975 Stradbroke-10,000 double and not just on the form-guide page. It was a handsome collect.
Sometimes, when asked to reflect on someone's life following their passing, you can get it all wrong in haste.
Not so with Larry. "Nature's gentleman" was my summing up when asked and I have no reason to alter that.
R.I.P. Laurence.
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What a seamless transition Tegan Harrison made at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
While all the hoopla about outriding her claim was deserved, reality often paints a more sober picture with less riding opportunities available.
Not so with Tegan who not only had a good book of rides, numbers wise, but booted home two winners.
She showed great initiative and aggression on Queen Of The Lochs which paid dividends with a return to the winners list.
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The Eagle Farm track refurbishment soap opera took some interesting turns in the past week.
Eagle Farm was brought back into the 2014/15 race-dates released late last week. Why?
And then Racing Minister Steve Dickson could not give a timeline on the project when questioned in a Sunday Mail feature other than to say it would happen "hopefully, sooner than later".
Not a ringing endorsement for swift action.
The "right" people keep telling me it's going to happen.
Can they also explain to me events of the last week?
By all accounts it's a nine month project so a September 1 start is the latest before the point of no return.
The clock is now ticking.
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I was continually amazed by jockeys wanting to get wide at Rosehill on Saturday.
I backed Bring Me The Maid and Chad Schofield was hell-bent on plotting a deep course from the 500 metres.
The case could be made if he had navigated a similar path to winner Mossfun, she would have made it awfully interesting.
Let's hope for dry and bias-free tracks for the next three Saturdays at Randwick.
Until next week.
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