John Tapp Racing

I’ve had several requests over a period of time to organise a podcast with former high profile bookie Bruce McHugh. We actually did just that in August of 2019, but in those early days of the website many missed it. In the 1980’s this was the time of year when Bruce and Kerry Packer would go toe to toe at the big Randwick carnival. It’s an appropriate time to repost that podcast. Bruce talks of his current interest in racing, and the thoroughbred stallion he stands commercially- the fashionably bred Arlington. He shares memories of his grandfather Jim who arrived in Australia as a state ward in the late 19th century. Jim McHugh rode an Epsom winner. Bruce remembers him clearly. Bruce shares wonderful memories of his late father Bill who died in 1999. He remembers his father’s tenuous start as a bookmaker at bush meetings and his elevation to the famous Randwick Flat Enclosure.  He admits he was a born gambler, the prime prerequisite for a future bookie. Bruce talks fondly of his maternal grandmother Hild