It was the most sensational protest of any hearing I experienced in over six decades with the impact of court room dramas, a far cry from the public eye but not the written word.
Schumacher, 87, after a long career in the saddle, not as distinguished as it would have been without his spectacular effort on Blue Era, died in March 2024.
Certainly a wild boy in his youth, Schumacher produced strength and balance, rarely if ever seen to prevent Hill’s mount Summer Fair from scoring, and had to defend the action in an environment prone to headlines.
Other sensational inquiries come to mind, but none with the impact of the leg pull. Consider the Wyong incident where a jockey prodded an opposition horse in the backside.
Further north, a trainer under fire before stipes, alleged that one of panel when a jockey had used a jigger on a horse for him. Quotes aplenty were rife. George Moore and Athol Mulley were consistently at logger-heads which came to fisticuffs, more bobbing and weaving than any knuckle damage. Asked by stewards why he wanted to deck Mulley, Moore pleaded: “He questioned my breeding”.
Perhaps desperation was tapering off under the control of Australian Jockey Club prosecutors John Schreck and Ray Murrihy, but still inquiries produced sensations aplenty. For instance, Schreck was confronted with Fine Cotton and the Jockey Tape Scandals.
In Melbourne the steward’s hearings were held behind closed doors so until more recent times, great performances were missed.
Jockeys lodging protests in 1961 were rare, particularly in major events. Race films had just come into operation and treated with scant respect.
At the time I was a young racing writer whose job was to cover the stewards: follow into the room any jockey or trainer who was called before stipes for complaint or interrogation.
When the public address system boomed “protest” in the 1961 Derby, it stimulated a buzz at Randwick, more of surprise than anticipation. Bookmakers could bet on the outcome. While it was a close finish, no reason was stipulated. Long odds were offered.
Asked to plead his case Hill maintained Schumacher had grabbed his leg near the finish, costing him the short half head winning margin.
Chief stewards Jack Bourke was disbelieving. “Are you sure?” Bourke queried. “Mr Bourke,” Hill replied. “I would know if a snake bit me.”
Schumacher countered with a grimace and the “p” word. Technicians in the room fiddled with film projector to get it set up to screen and replay while the audience waited agape. The process produced a rattle as the side on view beamed black and white vision (like something out of an old Charley Chaplin silent movie) of Blue Era and Summer Fair coming down the Randwick straight. Sure, there was bumping near the end but no real evidence of the incident.
But then came the head-on play: Schumacher leaned across and impeded the progress of Summer Fair. Over the latter stages, appearing only strides out, he released his grip, hit Blue Era a couple of times and gained a winning advantage.
(In full flight racehorses can reach 64 to 70 kph. At the end of the Randwick mile and a half, the speed is well short of that. Driving around Centennial Park at Randwick at 30kph I visualise being on horseback at the tempo, leaning over and grabbing a knee or leg, having the power to hold another horse back then the judgement to let go at a vital stage and apply to whip effectively to gain the centimetres required.)
Folklore maintains the head-on camera, in operation for only a short period, was activated by the official a few seconds before reaching the necessary button as he had trouble getting through the crowd to the position required. Without it I doubt whether there was enough evidence to convict Shumacher. The mood of the room, too, was sceptical. Everyone being in shock, even the young racing writer who on reflection could have dashed to the betting ring and had easy kill backing the protest to be upheld.
Like other jockeys, Shumacher could be superb on horseback, but ground level a problem, booze played a role. He was even caught with an unlicensed weapon.
Walking off Randwick on Derby Day 1961, after being given a life time disqualification from the saddle he remains the loneliest figure to leave a sporting arena. The sentence was later cut back to 10 years during which he worked at the Brisbane fruit markets lugging bananas.
When returned as a jockey Shumacher had lost the fire, still good but the touch of greatness had gone. Arthritis and tendonitis to hands effected his touch. Maybe, too, because of his win-at-all-costs before Blue Era, other jockeys treated with him extreme caution. “I don’t frighten,” Shumacher told me towards the end of his career, but was always apprehensive when called into the steward’s room for what he described as “a look at the pictures”.
Hoof Note: Aggressive American jockey Tyler Gaffalione is fortunate he was not riding under Australian Jockey Club law when runner-up in the Kentucky Derby recently.
Handling Sierra Leone, Gaffalione was runner-up, beating minor placegetter, Forever Young, by a short head.
However “Winning Post”, our racing newspaper always required reading, reported an incident regarding “Gaffalione in the closing stages – actions which seemed very adjacent to foul riding”, that necessitated stewards to “take some action.
“Again they showed no interest in the interference that that surely cost Forever Young second pacing but they did fine Gaffalione $(A)3,773 for ‘touching a rival with his left hand nearing the finish while aboard Sierra Leone in the 12th race at Churchill Downs’.”
One Response
That’s perfect