71 130 YEARS AGO At the Amateur Turf Club races in 1894 Tom Manifold won the Hurdle Race and the Handicap Flat Race on Apsley, a son of 1878 Victoria Derby winner Wellington (by Panic), and the Steeplechase on Mailboy. Apsley, which Manifold bred, followed up his successes on amateur day by winning the Handicap Hurdle Race the following day, with James Murray’s Neli in second place. A couple of months later Apsley started favourite in the VRC Grand National Hurdle and duly saluted, with Neli again second. One week later, on Grand National Steeplechase day, Apsley defeated Neli in the open hurdle race. At the Amateur Turf Club races the following year Apsley won the Special Welter race, with Chester Manifold riding four pounds over the set weight of 14 stone (89kg). The following day Apsley won the Warrnambool Cup. Second? You guessed it, Neli! Sadly, Tom Manifold had graced the Warrnambool racecourse for the last time. He was fatally injured in a hunting accident at Melton on Friday 19 July 1895. 60 YEARS AGO In 1965 Spotted won his second consecutive Warrnambool Cup for trainer Basil Conaghan and champion jockey and 2025 WRC Hall of Fame inductee Harry White. White holds the riding record in the Warrnambool Cup – his six winners being Spotted (1964, 1965), Nicholas John (1985), Top Banner (1987), Dandy Andy (1988) and Down the Pitch (1990). White also won the Wangoom Handicap on Galatic Start in 1985. LAST YEAR The commanding win of Mystery Island in the Warrnambool Cup gave former jumps jockey Shane Jackson, who rode Ablaze to victory in the 2020 Grand Annual Steeplechase, the biggest win of his short training career. After the race Jackson thanked his then boss Lindsey Smith for giving him the gelding to train. The win was a big thrill for jockey Harry Coffey, whose proud father Austy was present to witness the win. Mark McNamara: April 2025
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