John Tapp Racing

To mark our 300th podcast episode we present a chat with record breaking jockey Robert Thompson who sits on 4447 Australian winners as this interview is posted. He’s still riding at  age 63, but has greatly reduced his workload. He talks of the huge benefits of the higher weight scale these days.  Rob talks of life on the farm at Cessnock and his love of cattle. The veteran jockey takes us back to the day he rode his 4000th winner- a BM60 at Newcastle on a little horse called Lay Down The Law. He remembers the fuss made of him after the history making event.  Rob talks about the huge racing involvement on both sides of his family. He recalls being allowed to ride horses in the parade ring at small bush meetings while the stewards were otherwise occupied. He remembers the thrill of his first win at Wyong in 1973. Rob talks of his late grandmother Gwen whose support of her grandson at the races could sometimes get quite vocal. He relates one hilarious story about Nana Collins. The great jockey recalls hi