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Note: Oldest son - had "Moorefield", sold out in Depression? Moved to dairy at Forbes, then a small shop, worked for Bill Martin (agent) and later son Johnny Martin. Bill promised him work for as long as he wanted Mick was a top central west jockey and reputedly made a profit on his honeymoon at the Melbourne Spring Carnival. THE MICK WARD STORY. By Colin Hodges. Around the Racetracks. The Mungery Picnic Race Club held its 50th Anniversary meeting in June, 1974, and to mark the occasion, two special guests were invited to attend the trophy presentations after the running of the Mungery Cup. One guest was Sydney's leading jockey, Kevin Langby and the other former amateur jockey Mick Ward of Forbes. Langby, a young trendy, resplendent in red shirt, white tie, leather coat and long tinted locks shared the limelight with Wardy, the bald, weather-beaten, overcoated veteran, who had ridden the first two Mungery Cup winners in 1924 and 1925. Following the meeting, Langby returned to Sydney to ride alongside Peter Cook, Billy Camer, Ron Quinton, Malcolm Johnson, Ray Selcrig and company, while Mick reflected on the fact that very few of his old jockey mates are still alive. Jockeys such as Les Quinton, Jack Quinn, Frank Broderick, Neudy, Brewer, Jimmy Moore, Matt Dwyer (now living in Forbes), Cecil Spence, Gerry McMahon, Cecil Lyne, and Jacky Betts rode at the bush meetings in the twenties but not many of them are still around. Those were the days when men had to be good riders to hold their own in races as the horse, not the car was the mode of transport. As a result, most people were capable horsemen and horsewomen. Mick Ward was born on December 18, 1898 at "Greencamp", a 25,000 acre property near Nyngan, the eldest of a family of four boys and four girls. "Greencamp" was farmed by Mick's father and uncles and one of the features of the property was a training track used by the horses trained by the Ward family. Mick Ward's father was one of the top amateur jockeys of his time and also the owner and trainer of many horses. Two of the good horses he owned were Monsieur and Gunlight, which between them won five hurdle races in Sydney, where they were trained by Jim Lamb. On one occasion when Monsieur won in Sydney, Mr Ward snr, gave a friend, Peter McGregor, the stable commission to invest. When Monsieur won, McGregor collected the 1,000 pounds result, returned to his hotel room in Sydney and slept all night with a loaded rifle under the bed and the money stuffed in a pillow. Another tough old galloper he owned was a chestnut named Great Scott, which was led behind a buggy, the 40 miles to Nevertire and won the same day. One of his best feats as a jockey was at a meeting at Beadlebar, between Nevertire and Nyngan; included on the program were five flat races and a hurdle race over two miles. Ward snr. rode the five flat winners and his brother Tom won the hurdle race on a horse called Black Jack, which had been driven to the meeting in a buggy by the Ward family. Another legendary story concerns a mare named Miss Benah owned by Mr Ward and her epic battles with Bas Blue owned by Jack Richards, a back country drover. Richards, while droving in Queensland, purchased Bas Blue and returned with the horse to Beadlebar races. Miss Benah and Bas Blue clashed twice at the meeting with Ward's horse winning both times. Bas Blue was then sold to Abdul Wade, the "Camel King" of Bourke. Abdul Wade, an Afgan, had acquired a huge property at Bourke and over 5,000 camels ran on the property. These camels had originally been used for hauling wool, but had gone wild and overrun the property to such an extent that Wade had supplied his stationhands with guns to shoot large numbers of them. Incidentally, many of the camels which now roam wild in the outback of Australia, are reputed to have originated from Abdul Wade's property. When Wade purchased Bas Blue, he issued a challenge to Ward snr. for a match race against Miss Benah. The two parties met at Nyngan railway station and arranged the match for a one hundred pound stake. The match race was incorporated in the Nyngan race meeting and special trains ran from Dubbo and Bourke bringing to Nyngan the biggest crowd ever seen at that centre. Bas Blue was ridden by a Bourke jockey, while Mr Ward rode Miss Benah, which was part-owned with Billy Finn, an uncle of Jack Finn, of Forbes. Miss Benah won the race. Ward snr. rode for many years in the west, but only rode against his son Mick on a couple of occasions. His last ride in a race was at the age of 54, when he won at Nyngan on Mullalie with Mick riding the third placegetter in the same event. With a background like that, it was not surprising that Mick Ward took up race riding. Mick Ward had his first race ride in 1918 at the age of 18 years. A local resident Mr Sutters had a pair of horses, which he drove in a buggy, one of these horses was called Try Not. When the picnic race circuit started, Try Not, which had travelled thousands of miles as a buggy horse, was placed in a paddock for some time, then later prepared for the Beadlebar races; Beadlebar being a racetrack on the Nevertire side of Nyngan. Mick was given the ride on Try Not at Beadlebar, which was beaten earlier in the day, but was saddled up again in a later race and gave Ward his first winner when it led all the way over seven furlongs. Ward went on to win races at Bourke, Dubbo and other centres before falling from Try Not at Nyngan and being badly injured. Try Not, a bloodhorse-quarter draughthorse cross, was beaten several times when ridden by other jockeys, but when Ward recovered from injuries, he won a double on Try Not at Hermidale and then a race on each day of a two-day meeting at Nyngan. One of Mick's best performances in those early days of riding was at the Brewarrina and Coolabah meetings. A prominent owner came to Ward and explained that his jockey couldn't make the weight to ride his horse, Dobbin. Ward accepted the mount and won the race. At the following meeting at Coolabah, Ward won a double on Dobbin and also rode two other winners for the same owner, who informed Mick that a cheque would be sent in the mail as a reward. Ward received the grand sum of five pounds for his four winners. I wonder how much Langby capped for his five winners at Randwick last Monday! These were the early days of the fascinating career of Mick Ward. In 1924, the Ward family moved to "Melrose Plains" between Condobolin and Tullamore and took up residence on a 68,000 acre property. A man named Podmore was the manager of the bank at which the Wards dealt, in Condobolin, and it wasn't long after arriving at "Melrose Plains" that Podmore booked Mick to ride his horses at the Condobolin Picnics. Mick rode a race for Podmore at the meeting and this helped make a name for himself in the Condo area. The following day, a Jockey Club meeting was held at Condobolin and after a horse named Lord Dewar had run unplaced that day, the owner booked Ward to ride it at the following Trundle Picnics meeting. This event was destined to provide one of the most spectacular incidents ever witnessed in racing. When Mick arrived at the Trundle meeting, he entered the jockey's room and discovered that another jockey had Lord Dewar's colours on. After a dispute, the jockey was ordered to surrender the ride to Ward. Mick duly won the Flying Handicap and then took Lord Dewar out for the seven furlong handicap, which had a field of four including "Hayseed" ridden by Tommy Crawford, Snr, of Forbes. In those days, instead of the mobile barrier, a strand stretched across the track was used to start the race. When the field was dispatched in the Trundle Handicap, Lord Dewar jumped away a shade prematurely and caught the strand in its mouth; at the same time pulling loose a piece of deal board onto which the strand was fastened. Lord Dewar won the race, carrying in its mouth for the full journey, 27 feet of strand with the deal board attached. Patrons at the meeting watched in astonishment as Lord Dewar came down the straight with the tape flying high in the air. The incident was written up in the Sydney "Referee", a leading sporting paper of the day and silenced the cynics who doubted the credibility of the story. On the same day, Mick rode two other winners including one on a horse called Bobby's Mount. The next meeting was at Curra and Ward was booked to ride for the owner Harry Arthur, of Peak Hill. Mick won the Curra Cup on Eurithies and also won the Maiden for Arthur, and then went on to win the Mungery Cup on Eurithies. He also won races for Jimmy Williamson riding Tennis Racquet and Tommy Radburn. In 1925, Mick rode Lachashin and King Tessler for Simpson Williamson at Curra, finishing second on both horses but then won the Mungery Cup and Bracelet the following week at Mungery on this duo, thus giving him the honour of having ridden the first two Cup winners at the newly formed Mungery track. Another grand old galloper Mick rode in those days was Octember, owned by Gordon Williamson. Octember, when ridden by Ward, won a host of races on the back country tracks and later ran third in the Australia Cup over three miles. By then well established as a most competent jockey, Mick travelled extensively to race meetings riding at Tottenham, Albert, Fifield, Condo, Bogan Gate, Three Peaks (near Bobadah), and even rode at Cunnamulla in Queensland. Among his important successes were:- Condobolin Cups (Condo Bob and Rhone), Mungery Cups, two Fifield Cups, two Curra Cups, one Albert Cup, and the Euglo Cup. He rode four winners several times on the one day. One of Mick's most prized possessions is a gold watch which bears the following inscription:- "Presented to Mick Ward, rider of Condo Joe, Fifield Cup, from H.J. Haywood 20/5/26. Haywood, a Condobolin Publican, was the owner of Condo Joe. Mick's riding only brought him to the Forbes area on a couple of occasions, however he does remember vividly one of his rides at Forbes in 1926. Forbes trainer, 'Super Sayers', gave Mick the ride on Colombo at Forbes and instructed him to wear very sharp spurs as the horse was very lazy. When the field jumped, Colombo threw Mick that high in the air that Mick reckoned the other horses looked about as big as flies. The following day, Colombo threw jockey Matt Dwyer at Forbes. Super Sayers didn't have a great deal of success with Colombo, but did have a good horse, Tacana, owned by Don McKinnan and Jacky Paine, which won in Sydney. During his career as a jockey, Mick was not suspended on one occasion, but admits that he went close on a couple of occasions. When riding Green Camp at Warren, another jockey tried to get up on the inside and Mick, when shifting his mount inwards, put the other horse into a post causing it to fall. On another occasion, Mick was riding Lord Laurel and was being interfered with by Upheaval, ridden by Thompson. Mick gave Thompson several hard cracks across the back with his whip as a reward. Thompson was in great pain for several days following the incident. The horse which Mick considered the best he ever rode was Ready a Ready. Before coming to the bush, Ready a Ready had won the Carrington Stakes in Sydney when ridden by the immortal Jim Pike, for trainer Mick Poulson. Despite crushing weights in the bush, Ready a Ready won a stack of races when ridden by Ward. In 1928, Mick was married and decided at that stage to give away race riding. His last days riding was at Mungery. Mick won the Bracelet for owner George Matthews and then ran second on Brown Collar in the Cup. Ironically, the horse that Mick won the Bracelet on, beat Brown Collar in the Cup. After his marriage, Mick lived on a block at Melrose which included one paddock of 10,000 acres. He later leased the property and then moved to Forbes to send his children to school. The Melrose block was later sold, but three of Mick's brothers still live on another portion with Frank still living in the old homestead. When he came to Forbes, Mick rented the old racecourse for $2 an acre and began working for W.R. Martin and Co, Stock and Station Agents. He later bought Rustenberg Dairy Farm; stayed there for five years before joining permanently with Martins. One of his jobs was as a train drover, tending stock on the trains travelling to Sydney, Wodonga and Broken Hill. At Forbes, Mick reared a family of eight children : Barry, Peter, Brian, Mick, John, Jimmy, Vera and Ron. They followed in their father's footsteps as very good sportsmen, mainly excelling at Cricket. Peter has been a Grinstead Cup player for 25 years; Brian a Grinstead Cup wicketkeeper, Mick winner of the bowling aggregate last year, Barry and Jimmy both cricketers, and Ron who died tragically as a young man, once took 7 for 4 against Cowra in a Grinstead Cup game. Johnny was the only one who considered being a jockey, being a good horseman, but decided against going into the profession. Apart from horse riding, Mick Ward also had success as an owner, purchasing a filly named Sheila Broom at the Sydney Sales. Sheila Broom, part-owned with Tom Carey of Tullamore, won races in the country and later one of her offspring won the Forbes and Parkes Cups. Mick also succeeded as a trainer with a mare called Agnes Airs, owned by Jim Walker. Agnes Airs won races in the bush and then won in Sydney where she was stabled with Ken McKenna, father of present day trainer Albert McKenna. During his career, Mick was also a very good footrunner and won trophies for tennis, but one of his greatest loves was ballroom dancing. His wife, a highly accomplished musician, often played the piano at functions where Mick competed in dancing competitions. Every year, at the annual Stock and Station Agents party, Mick has won the waltzing competition. This story could go on forever. Mick has packed so many experiences into his life that it would take years to recall them all on paper. Now living in semi-retirement, Mick still loves to get to all the local meetings and also goes down to Martins office each day to lend a hand. One thing he vigorously maintains is that he never "pulled" a horse up in his life. Mick will never convince his workmates about this, but he is such a great old bloke that he has just about got me convinced. Good health old mate!
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