14 Who, indeed who in their right mind one might boldly ask, would propose as a new race a 4600 metre BM90 flat race restricted, in the true ANZAC spirit, to horses bred in Australia and New Zealand, and limited to jumping riders? And who would possess the vision, passion and determination to bring such a race to fruition and make it a resounding success? William John Brooker Gibbins that’s who! When Bill Gibbins first pitched his idea for the Jericho Cup one senior racing power broker (later a great convert to the race) challenged Bill that he wouldn’t get a field. Bill replied, channelling the Australian Diggers’ disinclination to be cowed by those in positions of authority, “I’ll give you 250,000 reasons why I’ll get a field”. And he did give those reasons! Bill and his wife Iolanda funded most of the prizemoney and the beautiful trophies for the first four runnings of the race. The backstory to the modern Jericho Cup is well known. About a decade ago a friend of Iolanda gave Bill a copy of Roland Perry’s epic tale Bill the Bastard, the story of arguably Australia’s greatest war horse and the first Jericho Cup, run in Palestine in 1918. Approaching the end of World War I the Australian Light Horse were planning a major offensive against the Turkish forces. In order to lull the enemy into a false sense of security, a race meeting was conducted on the eve of the assault. (1947-2025) BILL GIBBINS AM
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